Critical pedagogy and the fierce urgency of now: opening up space for critical reflections on the U.S. civil rights movement

• Published in: Social & cultural geography Vol. 18; no. 4; pp. 451 - 465
• Main Author: Inwood, Joshua F. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 19.05.2017; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Academic freedom; African Americans; black geographies; civil rights; Civil rights movements; Classrooms; critical geography; Critical pedagogy; Critical theory; Derechos humanos; droits de l'homme; Ella Baker; Geografía crítica; Geografías afroamericanas; Geographers; Geography; Grass roots movement; géographie critique; géographies des Noirs; Human geography; Pedagogy; Pedagogía crítica; Power; Pédagogie critique; Scrutiny; Social change; Social conditions & trends; Social movements; Social power; Teaching; Urgency; United States > US
• ISSN: 1464-9365; 1470-1197
• DOI: 10.1080/14649365.2016.1197301

This manuscript engages with the U.S. civil rights movement and offers reflections on how critical scholarship and pedagogy can benefit from a robust engagement with the African American freedom struggle. While widely studied in other disciplines and despite the work of some very committed geographers, the U.S. civil rights movement has enjoyed less critical scrutiny within the broader discipline. More specifically, I outline a set of broader concepts that can be utilized and which illustrate the power of grass-roots social movements to change oppressive social conditions. This has implications not only for social and cultural geography, but also for the ways we engage in the hard and often unrewarded work of classroom engagement and teaching.