Vol. 8, No. 1, Sp ing, 2017
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Re iew
Pe e McLa en, (2015) Pedagogy o Insu ec ion, New Yo k: Pe e Lang. 465 pp.,
Pape back, ISBN 1433128969, £ 20.98.
When S alin and he Poli bu o o he Communis Pa y o he So ie Union saw
Sho ako ich’s Lady Macbe h a he Moscow Bolshoi Thea e in 1936 hey go so
upse and inally ou aged ha he ope a was c ushed and condemned he nex
mo ning in he Pa y’s o icial newspape P a da. The second blas came a decade o
so la e in he Zhdano Resolu ion, in which he amous compose was accused o
o en o malism. Shos ako ich lea n he ha d lesson and he ea e composed his
symphonies - so o speak - o S alin and he Poli bu o. E en ually he was o ced o
join he Communis Pa y and p e end o ollow i s doc ines.
P o esso Pe e McLa en is an opposi e o Shos ako ich, al hough he, oo, c ea es
ex ual symphonies wi h his pen, o he has made his own way and i became his way
despi e he li le S alins o academia ha ied o c ush him along his e olu iona y
jou ney. Fo o e ou decades he has been one o No h Ame ica’s op igu es in he
ield o c i ical heo y in gene al and c i ical pedagogy in pa icula . He has de eloped
he adi ion o c i ical pedagogy in he belly o he beas and has been an ou spoken
c i ic o he s a e o he capi alis wo ld wi hou limi ing his p esence o he US
deba e. Th ough his wo ks and a els he has c ea ed a o ce ul and in luen ial global
oice.
One consequence o his wo k in he global a ena has been, especially in he pas wo
decades, ha c i ical pedagogy has gained signi ican momen um as a key a ea in
educa ional esea ch and a ious educa ional p ac ices a ound he wo ld. Pe haps he
bes indica ion o McLa en’s in e na ional in luence is ha c i ical pedagogy is
nowadays a globally ecognized mo emen .
Th oughou he pages o Pedagogy o Insu ec ion McLa en demons a es ha in his
new and inspi ing academic a mosphe e a Chapman Uni e si y he has no only
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eached his s onges and mos c ea i e phase bu also begun o ca e ou a new
heo e ical e ain wi h his pulsa ing s yle o w i ing. The i s i e chap e s a e
McLa en’s e lec ions wi h his in ellec ual “com ades” in he ollowing o de : Jesus
o Naza e h, Paulo F ei e, Hugo Chá ez, Fidel Cas o and E nes o ‘Che’ Gue a a. All
o hem we e socialis leade s wi h bo h heo e ical and p ac ical quali ies, and also
p ophe s o social jus ice wi h hei own pe sonal agendas, ideas and ideals. Wha
McLa en shows us is ha each one o hem has some hing impo an o o e o
c i ical hinking and ac ion oday. The es o he chap e s ange om ecopedagogy o
music educa ion as a ian s o his ‘ e olu iona y c i ical pedagogy’. Two o hem a e
li ely in e iews wi h his Slo enian and C oa ian in e locu o s.
As McLa en no es, he book is no a ypical olume on c i ical pedagogy in ha i
associa es his de elopmen s in c i ical pedagogy wi h Ch is ian communism, ‘c i ical
spi i uali y and a ious inca na ions o libe a ion heology’ (p. 46). In his book he is
especially in e es ed in heo izing—and emphasizing hei communion— he ideas o
building a communi y and de eloping a philosophy o p axis as means o c i icize and
o e come global capi alis o ces.
As a skilled an h opologis and heo is o educa ion he can smoo hly link his s ee
le el obse a ions om a ound he wo ld wi h e e ences o his o ical and cu en
poli ical a ai s, as well as o pe sonal e lec ions and heo e ical no ions o Ma xis
humanism, e olu iona y c i ical pedagogy and Ch is ian socialism. In using and
compa ing he ocabula ies o c i ical pedagogy and Ch is ian socialism McLa en has
de eloped a new language and p axis o educa ion aiming a building a ‘Kingdom o
God’ on ea h in he name o adical equali y and social jus ice.
The book is no easy o classi y o he lib a ian: a he same ime as i is an essay o
singula quali y on he heo y o c i ical educa ion i is also a memoi , a mani es o and
a poem. I esembles a symphony in how i uses language a ia ions as ins umen s
and how each sec ion has a speci ic hy hm and cadence as he eade ansi ions om
one sec ion o ano he . The las chap e , which is eminiscen o Allen Ginsbe g’s
amous poem, Howl, e en has he empo w i en in I alian o he eade o ollow.
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Sec ions o he las chap e - C i ical Rage Pedagogy - appea o be designed as a
pe o mance o a leas o be ead aloud.
McLa en’s p o oca i e and expe imen al ex is a lesson in c ea i e w i ing—how o
compose a mul ilaye ed academic ex , how o keep he ocus on he main hemes, and
how o ge he a en ion o he global c i ical audience. I would no be su p ised i
some o he mos mean spi i ed academic b oke s in he ield o educa ion ake on he
ole o an academic Poli bu o as hey ead and condemn McLa en’s symphonic
mas e piece. Bu hose who ha e no become dea o he oices and sc eams om he
plane ’s slums, le hem be he inal judge.
Juha Suo an a
Uni e si y o Tampe e, Finland