ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes a hybrid theoretical framework and empirical work in critical pedagogy produced in both the West and non-West. Historically, critical pedagogy problematized the expansion of capitalism, which dehumanizes our lives, and fought to regain humanity by removing pain and injustice. The neocolonial relationship in critical pedagogy is also found in the discourse of critical pedagogy in Japan. The colonization in the discourse of critical pedagogy in Japan has taken place in two ways: by stressing the universality of the theory of critical pedagogy in the West and by stressing the exceptionality of Japanese education. Bilingual scholars, especially those who are familiar with critical pedagogy both in the West and non-West, have the potential to change the asymmetrical relationship between the Western and non-Western scholarship of critical pedagogy. Although seikatsu tsuzurikata has a unique history rooted in Japan's cultural, economic and political context, it also shares common goals and methods with the critical pedagogy practiced by Paulo Freire.
