Politicking is a power and money-driven practice of a few, which causes the withdrawal of many devoted students and young instructors in Capoeira. Conversely, politics can be a way to engage and take action against politicking and other unhealthy practices within the art. A way of re-organising Capoeira towards more noble values and purposes within our communities. Freire’s argument for a libertarian process of education helps demystify the discussion of a ‘neutral’ versus a politicised approach to the art.
Having outlined Paulo Freire’s core concepts in the previous post, I will discuss how these ideas challenge the general discourse of resistance within the art. Freire’s argument for a libertarian process of education also helps demystify the discussion of a ‘neutral’ versus a politicised approach to the art.
Again, it is important to distinguish politics and politicking. The latter is a power and money-driven practice of a few, which causes the withdrawal of many devoted students and young instructors. Conversely, politics can be a way to engage and take action against politicking and other unhealthy practices within the art. A way of re-organising Capoeira towards more noble values and purposes within our communities. From this point of view, I believe Freire’s ideas can be useful to debate the socio-cultural and educational role of Capoeira, as well as the problem of politics versus politicking within the Art.
Freire explains that by transforming practical knowledge into ‘critical consciousness’ one will be better equipped to engage with her/his socio-cultural environment and to fight oppressive forces. The belief that these structures have always been like that and that that is nothing one can do about it, suggests a blind pragmatism an alienated adaptability. Conversely, the understanding of Capoeira sounded in its history as a rebel attitude against the oppressive establishment, will foster ‘critical consciousness’ leading to politics and action transcending this rebel attitude into a progressive practice.
The knowledge, questions and arguments of devoted students in Capoeira attempting to bring change and/or to discuss the establishment are very often turned down by group leaders. Usually the rationale is that their arguments were founded on alien concepts coming from other cultures or areas of knowledge. In fact there is a trend to discriminate against academic knowledge and its contributions to Capoeira. The denial of the complementarity amongst different areas of knowledge renders any discourse of resistance within Capoeira futile.
Whether in formal education or in Capoeira:
“The classroom must be, above all, a learning place of crossed arguments, of the necessary rules for discussion, of the conscious uptake of the needs and the procedures to understanding one another, and of the listening and the respect to the voices of the minorities and marginalised. This is why learning of understanding ought to play a capital role in democratic learning”. (Morin; 2001: 112-3)
Again, sometimes the above mentioned factors, are related to the shock of cultures forged under different circumstances. But too often it is a strategy to disrupt the students’ path towards a free form of practice. A way of preventing them to relate their cultural background, and complementary forms of knowledge acquired elsewhere to ways of fighting oppressive mechanisms within their groups.
That’s why Freire stresses that a libertarian educator must learn how to talk with his/her students and no to them; this way there is an exchange of ideas in which everyone learns, instead of a one-way teaching system of impositions. Freire calls this kind of approach ‘banking-system of education’ referring to how teachers are supposedly ‘depositing’ whatever students must learn, and how the latter ones are expected to be passive in regards to both content and methods. This concept raises strong questions about the rigid top-down hierarchy implemented in Capoeira today and how it is hindering cooperation and community development. Often what the jargon “give respect to be respected!” really means is that the youngsters should cope with such situations until they climb hierarchical positions and earn the right to do what they want later.
There are at least two major problems here. First, if everyone was indeed respected on egalitarian basis, there would be no need to stress a hierarchical approach. Second, after coping with this system for years practitioners are more likely to absorb and reproduce it later on than to try other forms of expression and organisation of their institutions; therefore reinforcing authoritarian structures. Freire explains this process through his oppressed-oppressor dialectics. Both oppressed and oppressor are trapped within this relationship, within which, not fully aware of the structures and agenda in play, one mirrors the other and vice versa perpetuating oppressive relations without never overcoming the system that inflicts them.
When students and/or young teachers begin to question such structures, and when there is no real cultural and/or pedagogic foundation underpinning them, the rationale used by mestres is that these students and instructors do not understand the reason why these rules exists, that they should wait more, stay out of ‘politics’, and leave such matters to be discussed by Mestres only.
There are many concepts and lessons that students will only understand with time. This is true for instance of students who are very critical about the way things are run in a school without never having the responsibility of guiding other peoples’ learning journey and/or of holding a group together to fulfill its aims. However, in some of these situations, given the established structures and the lack of political engagement when discussing how to overcome them, time will only transform today’s oppressed students into tomorrow’s oppressive instructors.
This is one of the reasons why everyone in Capoeira should engage with the real politics (not politicking) of education in order to enable the rebel instinct of the art to transcend into a progressive practice. As Freire puts it, a neutral take on educational processes can only foster conformism to the actual situation. From this viewpoint those arguing for a non-political practice of Capoeira are, in fact, defending the established structures in that group/school.
Taking Freire’s concepts of literacy, that enables one to read text and context, the word and the world around it, one must reflect upon today’s obsessive behavior towards mastering movements; history; rhythms; different styles; and every Mestre’s biography. For all these knowledge without relation to the art’s libertarian and empowering role is mere training, but not education.
Training can hone our skills and prepare us to meet demands presented in any context, but it will not equip us to transform it. On the other hand, a progressive educational approach will bring awareness of oppressive structures through the practice and discussion of the art’s purposes and foundational principles, leading us to take action and transform their worldwide community of Capoeira.
References:
Morin, Edgar. (2001). Os Sete Saberes Necessários à Educação do Futuro [Les sept savoirs nécessaires à l'éducacion du futur]. Brasília, DF, Brazil: Unesco
Paulo Freire on wikipedia – http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire
Freire, Paulo (1992). Pedagogia da Esperança: Um Encontro com a Pedagogia do Oprimido. Paz e Terra; Rio de Janeiro.
Freire, Paulo (2005). Pedagogia do Oprimido. Paz e Terra; Rio de Janeiro.
Note to References:
Pedagogy of the Oppressed was translated into many languages. The English version is from Penguin Books, and it can be easily found in libraries or ordered from book shops.
Thanks for writing such a thought-provoking post. Let’s keep the comments relevant.
That is a very interesting reflection. I already had this kind of reflection myself. It is always good to know about “intellectuals” and Capoeiristas who have had precise ideas of how to avoid politicking. I think it is always good to try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. If the person is higher in the hierarchy you might find out why they act like this and agree with them, or just find a reason, but disagree anyway. In the same way, if you put yourself in the shoes of a “lower cord”, you might remember yourself disagreeing with the behaviour you are having at the moment. In that case, it is important to have the strength to give up a “previlege” for ideas but you will find the privilege to live your ideas, and not to leave them to the past.
Most of the time, the mecanism is very inconscient I think, that is why it makes it so hard to detect. I did not get how should everyone get involved in politics throught education. Can student get involved in the politics of education if the teacher is not?If no, does that mean that you can get involved in the politics of capoeira from when you start teaching capoeira? And that changes would go only downward in the hierarchy and eventually go upward as a side effect?
Montanha, Paulo Freire used to say that whenever one says “I prefer to stay out of politics…” this is already a political statement, only that in this case favouring the actual order of things. This concept is very useful in Capoeira, as most people who have suffered from POLITICKING decides to stay out of POLITICS; hence favouring those with power to maintain their politicking.
Do you get my point here?! Politics is important, is how we consciously engage/interact with/in our social environment in order to change whatever we don’t agree with.
As for putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes… This is called ‘otherness’ or ‘alterity’ and if more of us can develop such skill, we’ll be more fit to avoid great part of our societies problems today, not only the ones in Capoeira. Now, the real question in regards to hierarchy as we have it now in Capoeira is: would you do the same when the time comes because the ‘higher-ranked’ person was right, or because the oppressed became an oppressor?
Sure authority might come with some ‘privileges’. But lets take Gandhi, for instance, he lead a whole country to its independence without quitting ordinary tasks (like weaving the fabric and tailoring his own clothes). For him, the greatest lesson one can teach is through his/her own example. Gandhi spend his life fighting for a horizontal community; and this never took away his authority. My point is that authority does not imply an authoritarian behaviour.
In short, if ones want to engage with, interact in, in a conscious way with her/his art-form in order to alter something (by means of fighting for a change or simply contributing to new takes), then politics is kicking in from that time on. Politics is inherent to humans, one can be a beginner in Capoeira, but already an engaged person in other walks of life. On the other hand, love for the art and a deep involvement to change injustices in Capoeira may lead one to discover politics… Does that answer your question?
Au revoir mon ami!