From Swords and Bullets to Radical Movements of Life: Language Education and the Discontents of Civilization

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In this article, we start from the (self)critical perception that, because of its embeddedness in colonialingual ideologies, language education has vastly contributed to reproducing the colonial view of progress that has moved us into the contemporary frame of civilizational crisis. Therefore, our main objective is to present a radical (self)critique of the civilizing nature of language education, so that it becomes possible to bring about an anti-civilizational way of thinking-doing language education where life is affirmed. To develop this idea, we present and discuss an alternative language praxis in English classes at a public school, which, in our view, offers possibilities for a civilizational transition in the field. We conclude by retaking some crucial elements of our discussion to propose a view of language education that radically fails the modern-colonial project of civilization.

Keywords

• civilizational crisis
• language education
• radical (self)critique