Why Paulo Freire is a threat for right-wing populism: Lessons for communication of hope

Abstract

Right-wing populism advances a brand of communicative politics that are antithetical to Paulo Freire’s vision of liberating, critical, and participatory communication. This essential opposition helps to understand why the Bolsonaro government has turned Freire into a target of criticisms, as part of its ambitious, furious attempt to remove progressive politics and human rights advances from Brazilian society. Considering the current situation, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relevance of Freire’s ideas for the analysis of the politics of hope against populism. His principles of public criticism, dialogue, autonomous participation, humanism, and hope are antithetical to populism’s vision. The unfolding of both dialogic and expressive politics against populism in Brazil and elsewhere illustrate the significance of Freire’s arguments, and raise questions about the limitations of purely dialogic strategies to confront authoritarianism.