Academic Work on Education & Anti-Authoritarianism Example

Resources added Sept. 2026

Abdul-Jabbar, W. Kh. 2026. “Al-Mufawadah as the Pedagogy of Negotiation: Intercultural Communication Strategy for Conflict Resolution.” Teaching in Higher Education. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/13562517.2025.2598758.

• Abstract: This article introduces Al-Mufawadah – an Arabic term for negotiation – as a culturally responsive model for conflict resolution in higher education. The term is rooted in the verb fawwada, meaning to delegate or share authority. By presenting Al-Mufawadah, the article challenges hegemonic and epistemic dominance. Educators can improve students’ understanding of negotiation practices grounded in cultural contexts as a pedagogical strategy. Incorporating Al-Mufawadah reduces tensions and promotes agreement. How can HE teaching resolve conflict, adopt non-Western epistemologies, and prepare students for peace processes? Negotiation is not merely a pragmatic dialogue but a culturally nuanced process shaped by historical, linguistic, and epistemic traditions. The article examines how pre-Islamic bartering and souq practices influence Al-Mufawadah and presents five principles shaping its ethics and application: ʿUrf (trust-building), Ḥilf (alliance-building), Ḥakam (mediation), Ḥikayat (storytelling), and Taslīm (ethical acceptance). It also considers how these can be adapted into higher-education practices for intercultural conflict resolution.

Alluri, Rina M. 2025. “Decolonizing Peace and Conflict Studies: Intersectional Perspectives from Racialized Women in Academia.” Teaching in Higher Education. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/13562517.2025.2598752.

• Abstract: Within a global context of high intensity conflicts, war, and genocide, there has been an increased awareness that there is a need for universities to reckon with their colonial past and politicized economic relations through decolonizing practices. These complex dynamics raise debates around academic freedoms, epistemicide, and the coloniality of knowledge and its dispossession of people’s ideas. This article argues that decolonizing peace and conflict studies (PACS) in higher education institutions involves the critical questioning of how to recenter ‘worldviews’, stories, experiences and learnings of racialized, gendered, BIPOC, and/or Global South women educators and researchers in academia. The article offers insights into how marginalized women educators and researchers are: reflecting on decolonial and intersectional theories; engaging in institutional acts of service, offering critical classroom pedagogies, and; conducting reflexive qualitative research in conflict affected contexts through everyday forms of resistance.

Cepeda-Caceres, María R., F. de M. Meza, R. Deras, C. de Gamboa, and I. Jave. 2025. “Memories and Continuities of Violence: The Role of Universities in Latin America.” Teaching in Higher Education. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/13562517.2025.2610220.

• Abstract: In recent decades, Latin America has encountered significant challenges in strengthening democracy, commemorating past violence, and building peace. Universities have not been exempted from these pressures. Historical and current manifestations of violence – from dictatorships and armed conflicts to resurgent authoritarian and denialist movements – have resulted in censorship and suppression of teaching and research. This paper examines the institutional achievements and limitations of universities in Colombia, El Salvador, Peru, and Uruguay; while addressing the challenges they face in teaching, research, and community engagement. Drawing upon the authors’ extensive teaching experience, it presents four case studies that explore how these institutions respond to the legacies of violence. The analysis highlights theoretical gaps in understanding the role of universities in peacebuilding. Overall, the study underscores that universities are pivotal, yet underexplored, spaces for advancing democracy, fostering inclusive education, and generating contextually grounded knowledge to counter denialism and authoritarianism, and inspiring social progress.

Chimbi, G. T., and L. C. Jita. 2025. “Protecting Jobs and Lives: Teachers’ Passive Resistance and Subtle Protest to Curriculum Policy in Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe.” Power and Education 18 (1). doi:10.1177/17577438241297235.

• Abstract: Most studies on teacher resistance to curriculum policy and reform implementation focus on teacher activism and visible acts of resistance. But there is growing interest in teachers’ passive resistance and covert protest in the face of intimidating state power. This paper theorises subtleties of teacher protest in three Southern African states – Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe. In these countries, teacher strikes, class boycotts and sit-ins have received heavy handed reaction from the government, resulting in psychological intimidation, physical assaults and incarceration. The key question driving this paper, therefore, is: Faced with shrinking democratic space, how are teachers in Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe recalibrating protest strategies? This paper argues that state repression pushes teachers to retreat from active protest and resort to subtle protest, to protect their jobs and lives. The unique contributions of this paper are that it borrows James Scott’s typology of ‘everyday invisible acts of resistance’, developed from an anthropological study of peasants struggle in a Malay village, to theorise teacher resistance in pseudo-democratic spaces. It also generates novel insights on how teachers continue to resist curriculum policy while sending false signals of compliance to repressive state power.

Gao, Xuesong, Md. Islam, S. Islam, and A. Lambri. 2025. “Relational Resistance and Transformative Pedagogy in the Global South: Insights from Bangladeshi Higher Education.” Teaching in Higher Education. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/13562517.2025.2572124.

• Abstract: This study explores how Bangladeshi university educators practice transformative pedagogy amid postcolonial legacies, neoliberal reforms, and institutional precarity, drawing on critical pedagogy and decolonial theory from interviews with nine educators in public and private universities. Four interrelated themes emerged: relational enactments of democratic citizenship, systemic constraints on critical teaching, curriculum as ethical struggle, and empowerment as a structural and emotional condition. Participants described transformative intellectualism not as heroic defiance but as situated, fragile, and ethically negotiated resistance shaped by affective labor, surveillance, and policy inertia. The study extends critical pedagogy scholarship by centering Global South experiences and showing how agency is continually reconfigured through governance systems and epistemic hierarchies, reframing transformative education as structurally contingent and relationally sustained.

Garrett, H. James, Michael Schmeichel, and Christine H. Clark. 2025. “‘You Don’t Have to Tell Them It’s a Lie’: Teaching Social Studies within a Backsliding Democracy.” Democracy & Education 33 (2): Article 3. doi:10.65214/2164-7992.1682.

• Abstract: In this essay, the authors posit that democratic backsliding, rather than partisanship, is the prevailing political situation in which civics and social studies teachers are working. The authors then present evidence from focus groups composed of practicing social studies teachers from across the United States to illustrate how the reliance on evidence and argumentation is the primary mode of navigating contemporary political issues. However, while these strategies are built on decades of research in civic education, the authors illustrate a conceptual dilemma: Inquiry strategies may not be able to accommodate the realities of democratic backsliding and its attendant misinformation. The authors propose that reframing inquiries in terms of pro- or anti-democratic stances rather than more traditional liberal-versus-conservative framings could be a potential way forward.

Geller, Rachel C. 2025. “Teaching Dobbs Where Divisive Concepts and Abortion Are Restricted: Teacher Learning, Controversial Issues, and Mixed-Reality Technology.” Democracy & Education 33 (1): Article 3. doi:10.65214/2164-7992.1712.

• Abstract: Though scholarship has long championed the positive impacts of classroom considerations of controversial or difficult issues, teachers have often hesitated to broach divisive topics for numerous reasons, including legislation purporting to limit controversy in classrooms and, often, that they had limited or no preparation to teach controversies, especially not politically contentious sociopolitical contexts. I worked with a research team to use a mixed-reality teaching simulation of a controversial issue discussion as a low-stakes learning context for developing skills for collective pedagogical reasoning. The teaching simulation centered on Dobbs v. Jackson, the 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated a constitutional right to abortion. This article presents a qualitative case study of one participating preservice social studies teacher, Cristina. In it, I trace Cristina’s participation in my class and the teaching simulation through her decisions to teach about abortion in her middle school student teaching placement the following semester. Findings suggest that the teaching simulation played an important role in her professional development and learning, facilitating her efforts to discuss abortion in a state with bans on abortion and teaching divisive concepts.

Graves, D. L. 2024. “Financial Aid as Whiteness as Property: Implications for Research and Practice.” The Journal of Higher Education 95 (7): 936–58. doi:10.1080/00221546.2024.2431294.

• Abstract: In this article, I demonstrate how financial aid is a valued property of whiteness. Utilizing critical race theory, critical race policy analysis, and whiteness as property, I examine how financial aid has historically and continues to be valued and protected as a benefit for white people. I apply characteristics of property expectations and the function of exclusion to the history of financial aid and contemporary federal student aid processes to demonstrate how federal policy laid the groundwork for a financial aid process that continues to impede People of Color. I rely upon the examples of the GI Bill, aid applications, income verification, and satisfactory academic progress policies to illustrate where and how racist inequities exist within the financial aid process. I conclude the article with implications for applying a critical race perspective to research, policy, and practice with the goal of recognizing how racism influences financial aid administration.

Ho, Yu-Ru. 2025. “Moving beyond Militarization: University-Level Conflict Defense Teaching Requires Reform.” Teaching in Higher Education. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/13562517.2025.2598755.

• Abstract: In conflict regions, educational institutions often implement defense education against violence and foster solidarity. The Taiwan Strait is an example of such a conflict area, and Taiwan has implemented university-level defense education since the 1950s. This point of departure article uses Taiwan as a contextualized example to examine how university-level defense education defines and teaches conflict. A critical concept, culture of war and culture of peace, by the United Nations is utilized for analysis (UN General Assembly Citation1998). In Taiwan’s defense education, competing definitions of conflict exist; one pinpoints conflict as military strife and another as local ethnic diversity. The curriculum advocates for understanding ethnic differences and solidarity, yet actual pedagogies include military training, maintaining a culture of war. Via critical reflection on the misalignment between conflict definitions and teachings, this article contends that National Defense Education could be reformed to eschew militarism and envisions implications for peacebuilding curricula worldwide.

John, V. M. 2026. “Developing Peace and Justice Education Praxes at a University – Towards Pedagogies for Life-Deep Learning.” Teaching in Higher Education. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/13562517.2026.2628545.

• Abstract: Peace education remains marginal in higher education institutions in South Africa and elsewhere. Drawing on a three-decade-old peace education programme at a university in South Africa, this article shares the development of a peace and justice education programme amidst some of the highest levels of violence and inequality in the world. It discusses formal and non-formal curricula and the blending of these modes. This article explores partnerships, praxes and pedagogies for advancing critical and decolonial peace and justice education. It illustrates the roles of pedagogies of critique, critical reflection, dialogue, and action in existing offerings and the importance of pedagogies of care, connection and community building for life-deep learning which responds to cycles of trauma and violence.

Karlsson, Jonas, and Jennie Sivenbring. 2025. “‘I Cannot Allow Myself to Focus on a Single Form of Intolerance’: Student Health Professionals’ Encounters with Antisemitism in Schools.” Power and Education 18 (1). doi:10.1177/17577438241312615.

• Abstract: Swedish society faces a concern regarding growing and multifaceted antisemitism. This is evident in schools, with indications of antisemitic views and expressions among students. However, little is known about how school professionals handle antisemitism. This study explores antisemitism from the perspective of professionals in student health teams. It focuses on the encounters with antisemitism in their daily practice and their interpretative repertoires for positioning themselves as professionals counteracting antisemitism. To accomplish this, 12 representatives of student health teams in two upper secondary schools in Sweden were interviewed. Analysis of the data gathered describe these professionals’ encounters with antisemitism in school settings and how they account for their not being involved in preventative or interventional work because of their professional role and conceptualisation of the problem. Furthermore, antisemitism is recognised only when there are potential Jewish victims or potential Muslim perpetrators.

Kester, Kevin, and Greg William Misiaszek. 2026. “Unsettling Conflict and Peace through Teaching in Higher Education: Diverse Contexts, Approaches and Pedagogic Possibilities.” Teaching in Higher Education 31 (3): 349–57. doi:10.1080/13562517.2026.2633888.

• Abstract: This article serves as the introduction to the Teaching in Higher Education Special Issue (SI) on ‘Conflict, Peace and Teaching in Higher Education’. Conflict permeates contemporary life, and higher education (HE) is no exception. From active armed conflicts in Cambodia, Gaza, Myanmar, Sudan, and Ukraine to protracted disputes in Cyprus, the Horn of Africa, the Korean Peninsula, and the Taiwan Strait, university educators are increasingly entangled in contexts of violence and insecurity (Heleta, Citation2025; Kester et al., Citation2022; Millican, Citation2017; Milton et al., Citation2023). In some settings, educators are directly targeted, displaced, or killed; in others, they work under intensified regimes of campus securitization and militarization (Danvers, Citation2023; Kamali, Citation2021). At the same time, universities in the United States and elsewhere are experiencing declining public trust alongside efforts to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, restrict academic freedom, and censor scholarship (Ng et al., Citation2025; Shirazi et al., Citation2025).

Laven, Wendy. 2026. “The Tricky Business of Teaching Peace and Conflict: Diverse Pedagogical Strategies for University Classrooms.” Teaching in Higher Education. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/13562517.2026.2618116.

• Abstract: This paper examines the challenges and opportunities of teaching peace and conflict in university classrooms amid contemporary cultural divides, particularly in the United States, with relevance beyond this context. As debates over ‘woke’ education intensify, educators face the task of teaching peace, justice, and ethical responsibility in politically charged environments, raising questions about higher education as potential indoctrination. Drawing on over a decade of teaching experience, the paper introduces two ‘tricky’ pedagogical strategies: ‘sneaking in’ and ‘sneaking out.’ ‘Sneaking in’ involves the subtle introduction of contentious topics, such as toxic masculinity, critical race theory, and decolonization, through familiar and accessible media like popular music videos. ‘Sneaking out’ uses community service-learning projects to connect students with real-world peacebuilding efforts in their local communities. These strategies highlight how educators inevitably (mis)teach conflict, justice, and sustainability, and argue for a nuanced approach that balances implicit learning, practical engagement, and critical inquiry.

Lavrysh, Yuliia, Michiko Watanabe, Iryna Lytovchenko, Viktoriia Lukianenko, Olena Synekop, and Olena Chugai. 2026. “Education as Emotional Support: Coping, Connection and Resilience among Ukrainian Students in Wartime.” Teaching in Higher Education. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/13562517.2026.2614962.

• Abstract: This study examines the emotional and psychological responses and coping strategies of Ukrainian students during the first two years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Participants included bachelor students from National Technical University of Ukraine ‘Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute’ who engaged in reflective writing as part of the Ibunka international virtual exchange project in 2022 and 2023. Through quantitative content analysis of 94 written reflections, the study explores the emotional and psychological responses and coping strategies of Ukrainian students during this aggression. Findings highlight the range of emotional responses – including fear, grief, anger, hope, and resilience – and demonstrate how reflective writing and peer interaction can support students’ coping and psychological well-being during wartime. Theoretically, the research contributes to the growing body of education in emergencies literature, while practically, it highlights key aspects of trauma experiences that educators should be mindful of when designing and facilitating instruction in similar contexts.

Levy, Brett L. M., and Ariana Lewis. 2025. “Fostering Open-Minded Political Engagement through Online Interscholastic Discussions: Toward Reducing Affective Political Polarization.” Democracy & Education 33 (1): Article 2. doi:10.65214/2164-7992.1714.

• Abstract: This study explores how political discussions among diverse youth can support students’ open-minded political engagement. For this study, we collaborated with two teachers to adapt and enact instruction aimed at supporting students’ discussion of controversial issues across political, geographic, and cultural boundaries. During an instructional unit exploring various ways to strengthen our election system, students engaged in discussions with their classmates and with peers from another school via an online video discussion board. We collected data through observations and interviews. Our findings indicate that the instruction enhanced students’ understanding of their political bubbles and their motivation to engage in boundary-crossing political discussions—and that they found the opportunity to engage with students from another school to be valuable overall.

Macfarlane, Bruce, and Xue Han. 2024. “The Duty to Explain: A Positive Defence of Academic Freedom in the Social Sciences.” Teaching in Higher Education 29: 1208–20. doi:10.1080/13562517.2024.2420935.

• Abstract: This paper defines a university teacher’s ‘duty to explain’ as a way of developing student autonomy. This builds on the idea that in other professions, such as medicine or law, there is a duty of care towards the client to explain the full facts and risks to a patient or client. The university teacher has a similar duty towards the student to explain all perspectives and to problematise claims to knowledge. This approach makes it possible for the student, rather than the teacher, to be the person who evaluates claims to knowledge. The duty to explain is a more a positive way of understanding that the teacher should not indoctrinate the student but instead open up a range of interpretations for them to choose from. This duty also provides a defence of the role of the social sciences in society especially in contexts where academic freedom is weakly established or under pressure.

Mang, Monica. 2026. “‘Powerful Stories of Resistance against Impossible Odds:’ Teaching Rebecca Hall’s Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts as Critical Methodology.” Radical Teacher 133. doi:10.5195/rt.2026.1376.

• Abstract: In this teaching note, I show how teaching with Rebecca Hall’s (2021) Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts subverts what undergraduate research design classes can do, showing how critical methodology courses – contrary to their reputation as scientistic exercises surveying a pre-packaged list of methods – are an especially apt place to teach about anti-racism, feminist theory, resistance, and social power.

McAvoy, Gregory E., Paula McAvoy, Rachel Waltz, and Elizabeth Grace. 2025. “Productive Discussion across Political Differences: Understanding Students’ Experiences with Comfort and Discomfort within Structured Discussions of Public Policy Issues.” Democracy & Education 33 (1): Article 4. doi:10.65214/2164-7992.1715.

• Abstract: This study investigates the effectiveness of two pedagogical strategies—deliberation and debate—in fostering productive political discussions among high school students, with a focus on overcoming affective polarization. Paying attention to students’ comfort, engagement, and willingness to participate, this study employs a mixed-method approach using data from surveys, observations, and interviews with students participating in a civic immersion program in Washington, DC. Using deliberative theory and the concept of “productive classroom discussion across political differences,” the research explores the extent to how students perceive each strategy as productive, as well as their experiences of comfort and productive and unproductive discomfort. Additional attention was paid to how identity factors such as ideology, gender, race/ethnicity, and social class influence student experiences. Results of the study indicate that deliberations tend to enhance feelings of comfort and mutual respect, while debate garnered more participation and disagreement. We found that negative feelings with debate were often related to productive discomfort. Emphasizing the importance of discussion design in cultivating productive and unproductive discomfort, we provide insight into how teachers can support student engagement in political discourse and offer practical guidance in fostering inclusive learning environments as a means to overcome affective polarization.

Pedota, Joseph, Liliana M. Garces, Emily M. B. Epstein, Natalie C. Ngaosi, and Nida Khalayleh. 2025. “‘We’re on Our Own Out Here’: Faculty Member Responses to Legislative Threats to Academic Freedom and Scholarship on Race.” The Journal of Higher Education 96 (5): 647–74. doi:10.1080/00221546.2025.2462807.

• Abstract: Colleges and universities nationwide are contending with a well-coordinated, well-funded legislative campaign that seeks to reverse decades of racial progress. Using sociolegal frameworks and concepts, this study investigates how 32 faculty members from two public universities understand and respond to proposed legislation designed to restrict open inquiry and expression on campuses, which particularly targets race-related scholarship and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. This multiple case study offers a deep and nuanced understanding of how legal and institutional contexts shape faculty members’ responses. The findings reveal that senior leaders’ and academic administrators’ responses can influence faculty members’ understandings and actions, which often leads them to restrict their teaching and scholarship on race unnecessarily. Insights from this study also highlight the crucial role filtering agents, such as civil rights groups, play in mitigating the pressure to suppress work otherwise protected. The implications of this study underscore the critical need for institutional leaders and external organizations to advance a race-conscious and collectively engaged defense of academic freedom, especially as restrictive legislation continues to emerge across the United States.

Rahmat, R. B., T. Porta, and K. T. Phyo. 2025. “The Role of the Higher Education Educator in Times of Conflict in Myanmar.” Teaching in Higher Education. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/13562517.2025.2512334.

• Abstract: The education system in Myanmar has long been marked by centralised control and limited academic autonomy. The 2021 military coup exacerbated these issues and impacted educators’ professional growth. This research investigates the coup’s effects on Myanmar’s higher education educators, focusing on complex challenges both professionally and personally. Using Windschitl’s (2002) four constructivist dilemmas as a theoretical framework, the research analyses the challenges faced by educators post-coup. A case study methodology was used, including semi-structured interviews with four educators directly impacted by the coup. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis method was employed to analyse the interview data, revealing themes related to oppression, displacement, and emotional distress that affected these educators and their families. Despite these challenges, educators have shown they uphold their commitment to equal rights and opportunities. The research discusses implications for future policy and practice to promote educational equity in times of political crisis.

Stoddard, Jeremy, Jason Brohinsky, Jennifer A. Chen, David Behnke, M. Sue Tutwiler, and Jonathan Robbins. 2025. “Beyond ‘Yelling at Them’: Exploring the Impact of a Political Simulation in Polarized Times.” Democracy & Education33 (1): Article 1. doi:10.65214/2164-7992.1710.

• Abstract: This paper explores how PurpleState, a political simulation designed to foster skills and knowledge for informed civic participation, develops students’ abilities to counter or resist the effects of political polarization and partisanship. Throughout the simulation, which has been implemented in Virginia and Wisconsin, students are asked to analyze, reason with, and communicate using evidence on a state policy issue (e.g., gun control) with a particular focus on local context. They are also asked to reflect on how what they are learning helps them understand the political information environment and their role in it. Student participants from focus groups (n=32) consistently reported applying the skills and practices from the simulation to other academic and civic contexts, in particular to engage thoughtfully with political messaging as well as the willingness to seek out and the capacity to understand multiple perspectives on controversial policy issues. These behaviors constitute two epistemic ideals, or standards for making sense of the world, that are fundamental to the PurpleState simulation and to countering the effects of polarization. Students also reported valuing and pursuing information to understand different perspectives on policy issues as well as how these issues might impact different communities or regions of their state.

Watson, Ebony. 2024. “Black Lives Matter Here Too: Amplifying Blackness in Research Methods.” Teaching in Higher Education 29: 1321–30. doi:10.1080/13562517.2024.2414452.

• Abstract: Black Lives Matter is a global movement that has gained support from an increasingly diverse racial and ethnic demographic. Universities seek ways to provide an opportunity to increase the quantity and strength of the Black perspective. Using research methods, a fundamental social science course, this paper demonstrates that it is possible to view methods as a course where we can adequately reflect on conversations about race and other social inequities. Research methods does not have to only be about skills but can also convey perspective. Moreover, it highlights the possibilities of shifting any course away from the dominant perspective and centering Blackness in classroom conversation. This paper intends to continue the conversation of social justice teaching and stimulate discussion around lifting Black voices throughout the university.

Weiner, Eric J. 2025. “Lessons to Be Learned: Adornian Insights into the Persistent Appeal of Authoritarianism in the 21st Century.” Teachers College Record 127 (11–12). doi:10.1177/01614681251408944.

• Abstract: Education in the United States is under siege. The Trump administration and Make America Great Again (MAGA) are waging an aggressive war on academic freedom, democratic education, and, more broadly, truth itself, fighting against what it labels as discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and what it perceives as rampant antisemitism on college campuses. From traditional educational institutions like elementary schools and universities to cultural organizations like the Smithsonian Institution and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the right-wing war on education is highly organized, well-funded, and extremely popular across a wide sector of the U.S. population. What’s becoming clear is that many educators and members of the political class may have underestimated authoritarianism’s persistent and formidable hold on the West’s political imagination. As Theodor Adorno knew, the militaristic defeat of authoritarian ideology is not the same thing as dismantling the social structures that house its ideas, drive its educational agenda, normalize its lies, and rationalize its repressive function. From Adorno’s perspective, the move away from democracy is not a contradiction of capitalism, but a rational and inevitable outcome of its social architecture. In what follows, I will discuss a few central points that arise from Adorno’s key lectures about sociology, education, and research into how and why right-wing extremism continues to thrive in the 21st century.

Resources added on Sept. 2025

Carnevale, Anthony P., Nicole Smith, Lenka Dražanová, Artem Gulish, and Kathryn Peltier Campbell. The Role of Education in Taming Authoritarian Attitudes. Washington, DC: McCourt School of Public Policy, Center on Education and the Workforce, Georgetown University, 2020. 

• AI Summary: This study finds that higher education—especially liberal arts—significantly reduces authoritarian attitudes by fostering critical thinking, civic responsibility, and interpersonal trust. It shows that college graduates are less likely to support authoritarian leadership and more likely to engage in democratic processes. The report positions education as a protective force against authoritarianism, especially in times of crisis.

Carr, Erin M., and Nabil Yousfi. “‘Anti-Wokeism’ and Authoritarianism: A Renewed Call for Constitutional Protections for Education.” Syracuse University Law Review 74 (2024): 971–1018. 

• AI Summary: Carr and Yousfi trace the historical roots of anti-literacy laws and argue that contemporary “anti-woke” legislation continues this authoritarian legacy by restricting educational content. They highlight the chilling effects on educators and students, and call for stronger federal protections to safeguard democratic education. The article frames education as a constitutional imperative in resisting authoritarian retrenchment.

Giroux, Henry A., Ourania Filippakou, y Sofía Ocampo-Torrejón. Pedagogía Crítica en la Era del Autoritarismo: Desafíos y Posibilidades. Santiago: Revista Izquierdas, vol. 50, 2021. https://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-50492021000100203.

• AI Summary (español): Este artículo examina cómo el autoritarismo contemporáneo, influenciado por ecos del fascismo histórico, ha instrumentalizado la educación superior para legitimar dinámicas de dominación, especialmente bajo el neoliberalismo. Los autores defienden la pedagogía crítica como herramienta para recuperar la conciencia política, resistir la normalización de la violencia y fomentar el pensamiento emancipador. La educación se presenta como un eje inseparable de la política, capaz de generar espacios de resistencia y transformación democrática.

Title (English): Critical Pedagogy in the Age of Authoritarianism: Challenges and Possibilities 

• AI Summary (English): This article explores how contemporary authoritarianism—echoing fascist legacies—has co-opted higher education to reproduce and legitimize domination, particularly through neoliberal frameworks. The authors advocate for critical pedagogy as a means to reclaim political consciousness, resist normalized violence, and cultivate emancipatory thought. Education is framed as inseparable from politics, offering a foundation for democratic resistance and transformative praxis.

Giroux, Henry A., and William Paul. “Educators and Critical Pedagogy: An Antidote to Authoritarianism.” Development Education Review 36 (Spring 2023): 89–102. 

• AI Summary: Giroux and Paul argue that neoliberalism and far-right politics have weaponized education to suppress dissent and promote authoritarian conformity. They call for a revival of critical pedagogy that empowers students to question power, resist ideological repression, and engage in democratic citizenship. The essay positions educators as frontline defenders against authoritarian encroachment through transformative teaching.

Lupien, Pascal, and Lorna Rourke. “(Mis)information, Information Literacy, and Democracy: Paths for Pedagogy to Foster Informed Citizenship.” Journal of Information Literacy 15, no. 3 (2021): 56–81. https://doi.org/10.11645/15.3.2947.

• AI Summary: Lupien and Rourke argue that authoritarian populism thrives when citizens lack the skills to critically evaluate political information, especially in the age of social media and misinformation. They propose a transtheoretical model that bridges political science, information science, and critical pedagogy to empower learners with the tools to resist manipulation and engage meaningfully in democratic life. The article calls for a collaborative, system-wide educational approach that treats information literacy as a form of civic empowerment and a bulwark against authoritarian regression.

Miner, Meryl, and Scott Warren. Understanding Youth Perceptions Toward Authoritarianism. Baltimore: SNF Agora Institute, Johns Hopkins University, 2024. 

• AI Summary: This report investigates global youth attitudes toward authoritarianism, revealing widespread frustration with democratic institutions rather than democracy itself. It emphasizes the importance of civic education and youth-led engagement as tools to counter authoritarian drift. The authors advocate listening to young people and empowering them to shape more inclusive and resilient democratic systems.

Morris, Charlotte. “Working with Critical Reflective Pedagogies at a Moment of Post-Truth Populist Authoritarianism.” Teaching in Higher Education 29, no. 1 (2024): 93–110. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1413709..

• AI Summary: Charlotte Morris explores how critical reflection in UK higher education can serve as a pedagogical countermeasure to rising populist authoritarianism, post-truth discourse, and anti-social justice rhetoric. Drawing on student reflections within a foundation-level social sciences course, she demonstrates how reflective practices foster intellectual and political agency amid reactionary pressures. The paper positions critical pedagogy as a transformative tool for resisting authoritarian narratives and cultivating democratic consciousness in the classroom.

Synak, Nikola, Nikola Šabíková, and Radomír Masaryk. “Correlations Among High School Students’ Beliefs About Conspiracy, Authoritarianism, and Scientific Literacy.” Science & Education 33, no. 1 (2024): 159–174. 

• AI Summary: This study finds that scientific literacy among high school students is negatively correlated with authoritarian and conspiracy beliefs. It suggests that improving science education can reduce susceptibility to authoritarian ideologies and misinformation. The findings support educational interventions as a means of fostering democratic resilience in youth.

Tebaldi, Catherine, and Kysa Nygreen. “Opening or Impasse? Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy in a Posttruth Era.” Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies 22, no. 2 (2022): 143–153. https://doi.org/10.1177/15327086211065810.

• AI Summary: Tebaldi and Nygreen explore how teaching critical media literacy (CML) in the post-truth era can both empower students and encounter ideological impasses. Using autoethnographic narratives, they show how far-right media discourses and economic precarity complicate efforts to foster critical consciousness. The article argues that resisting authoritarianism through education requires not just fact-checking, but deeper engagement with how media is weaponized to normalize racist, sexist, and anti-democratic ideologies.

Zembylas, Michalinos. “Adorno on Democratic Pedagogy and the Education of Emotions: Pedagogical Insights for Resisting Right-Wing Extremism.” Policy Futures in Education 19, no. 7 (2021): 809–825. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478210320985378..

• AI Summary: Michalinos Zembylas revisits Theodor Adorno’s educational philosophy to explore how democratic pedagogy and emotional education can counteract the rise of right-wing extremism. He argues that Adorno’s emphasis on critical self-reflection and the education of emotions offers a powerful framework for cultivating democratic subjectivity and moral resilience in students. By creating critical spaces in classrooms that resist sentimental manipulation, Zembylas positions education as a transformative force against fascist tendencies and authoritarian affective regimes.