Has anyone here read it? I’m listening to the audiobook and it’s kind of interesting, and I’ve picked out a few things (at least I know a tiny bit about Hegel, Fanon, Sarte, and Bergson), but why is it so jargon-y and confusing? Is there anything else I should have read first? I feel like all I’m getting out of it is what I already know from ‘Oppose book worship’ by Mao, or the bit of ‘wretched of the earth’ by fanon that I remember. What are your thoughts on the book?
The Red Menace podcast did a decent enough discussion on the text that you might find helpful.
Thanks, I might get more out of that than the actual book.
Oh no, definitely read the book. It is an incredible study of a particular method of propaganda as praxis, specifically co-active pedagogy. If you have no experience in education from the perspective of delivering training, it might be a little too inaccessible at this point in your journey. But if so, I would schedule time to come back to the work in 5 years and it might be a completely different experience for you.
I’m still reading it, I just hope the podcast will help me understand it. I’ll also read it again eventually, with a better capacity to understand it.