The celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire was going around the world last year. Through this special session we want to celebrate it in the framework of ECER, as well it was welcomed in the Presidential Panel during the AERA annual meeting last year. During this session Freire was highlighted as the most influential intellectual in education of this century and of the last century, for the impact of his work on researchers, professors, activists and cultural workers around the world. The analysis of more than one million curricula around the world confirms that Pedagogy of the Oppressed is the most cited book, as it is in the social science databases, and, the most requested by students and professors in the universities of the United States.

We relate his magnificent work against traditional educational positions and against totalitarian governments with the current international situation. Many totalitarian regimes and the so-called democracies are destroying basic citizens’ rights, especially for the most vulnerable populations. As Freire argued, “in being in favour of something or someone, I am necessarily against someone”. We need to fight against inequalities calling for a politics of hope, working together for changing the world from our work as researchers. Freire’s work is a perfect platform for this and we want to remember his work and figure in this trouble times through four papers from Australian, Spanish, North American and Brazilian perspectives.  

Flecha, R. (2000). Sharing Words. Theory and Practice of Dialogic Learning. Lanham, M.D.:Rowman& Littlefield. Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. [New York]: Herder and Herder. Frere, P. (1998). A la sombra de este árbol. Barcelona: El Roure. Freire, P. (1998). Teachers as Cultural Workers: Letters to those who Dare to Teach. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. Freire, P. (2004). Pedagogy of Indignation. Bourder, CO: Paradigm Publishers. Freire, P., & Macedo, D. (1995). A dialogue: Culture, language, and race. Harvard Educational Review, 65(3), 377-402.