Review of Pedagogy and Praxis in the Age of Empire: Towards a New

Pedagogy and Praxis in the Age of Empire: Towards a New Humanism is a book that has produced a lot of inner emotions within me, as it contains both rigorous political critique and some positions that, as an anarchist, are also quite troubling. Firstly, I have followed the work of Peter McLaren with great enthusiasm as his discourses of critique and liberation fit well within a neo-Marxist vision of social transformation and revolutionary practice. Although I am only vaguely familiar with the work of his co-author, Nathalia Jaramillo, their combined voices produce a powerful critique of capitalist production, the U.S. military-industrial complex, Hurricane Katrina, and the aftermath of the Bush & Co.’s oppressive and highly resourceful political and economic regime. Through this manipulation, these forces have bludgeoned the poor and working class with high taxes, abandoned New Orleans pre- and post-Katrina, supported imperialist and economic ventures in the invasion of Iraq, invoked Christianity to lend further support to their political programs, and supported policies steeped in a socially and neo-conservative ideology that reproduced the State and other oppressive practices. The book follows a post-9/11 political, economic, and social landscape that is riddle