Browsing by Author "Hall, Budd L"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 104

50th anniversary edition of pedagogy of the oppressed
(2020) Hall, Budd L
Why has Pedagogy of the Oppressed remained one of the most influential works in educational thought for more than five decades? In this review, Dr. Budd L. Hall critically examines the 50th Anniversary Edition of Paulo Freire’s foundational work and explores the reasons for its enduring global impact. Drawing on personal recollections from his time in 1970s Tanzania, Hall reflects on how Freire's philosophy shaped early radical adult literacy initiatives. The review emphasizes that the strength of Freire’s work emerged from its close connection to the experiences of marginalized communities and literacy movements in Brazil, where dialogue and collective reflection became tools for understanding and challenging oppression. This is further enriched by contributions from Donaldo Macedo and Ira Shor, whose writings in the anniversary edition highlight the continuing relevance of Freire’s ideas in a world marked by inequality and political polarization. Ultimately, the review concludes that Freire's work remains significant because it demonstrates how education can enable marginalized communities to understand, challenge, and transform oppressive social conditions.
50th anniversary edition of pedagogy of the oppressed: A review
(2020) Hall, Budd L
A Call for a dialogue between knowledges
(2020) Hall, Budd L
A Canadian approach to higher education, community-engagement and the public good: The future of continuing education
(2009) Hall, Budd L
What is the relationship between society and universities in the 21st century? In this article, Budd L Hall reflects on the future direction of Canadian higher education and its responsibility to the public good. Situating his argument within long-standing debates in continuing education, he examines how universities are increasingly shaped by market pressures, corporatisation, and funding constraints. Instead of framing social justice and economic concerns as oppositional, Hall calls for a more integrated approach that recognises the interdependence of markets, communities, and democratic life. Drawing on decades of work in community-based research and engagement, he argues that universities must move towards institutionalising meaningful partnerships with communities. Community-based research, he suggests, should be embedded within teaching and research practices as a pathway to social action. In conclusion, this article invites readers to reconsider how higher education institutions can remain socially relevant by strengthening their civic role and deepening their accountability to the communities they serve.
‘A giant human hashtag’: Learning and the #occupy movement
(2011) Hall, Budd L
How do forms of learning evolve in social movements? In this chapter, Dr. Budd L. Hall discusses the pedagogical significance of the ways in which learning takes place both within a movement and as a result of it. Taking the case of the Occupy Movement, which he considers one of the most important social movements of the twentieth and twenty first centuries in rich countries, Hall highlights the synchronised scale with which it aligned purpose and process. Viewing every participant as both a learner and a teacher, he reflects on how the organising structure of the movement differed from preceding movements against global capitalism. He discusses several defining characteristics of the movement, including collective thinking, direct democracy, decentralised leadership, and the creation of new forms of knowledge. Hall also emphasises the important role played by social media platforms as spaces of knowledge creation and dissemination. In developing his argument, he draws extensively on tweets shared under hashtags such as #Occupy, #OccupyMovement, and #OWS, among others. Through this exploration, Hall demonstrates how social movement learning holds transformative potential at both theoretical and practical levels, showing how the two remain in sustained dialogue within movements like Occupy.
A Northeastern Brazilian: Memories of Paulo Freire
(2018) Hall, Budd L
How do personal memories illuminate the enduring legacy of one of the twentieth century's most influential pedagogical thinkers? This paper presents Dr. Budd Hall's reflection on his experience with Paulo Freire and the influence of Freire’s pedagogical ideas on adult education and social transformation. Hall’s engagement with Freire’s work began in 1970 while working at the University of Dar es Salaam, when Tanzania was developing a nationwide adult literacy campaign under President Nyerere. The paper highlights his commitment to social transformation through education, emphasizing the influence of Marxist and humanistic psychology. He created a discourse, a set of words and concepts that fit our world so well. ‘Banking education,' 'conscientization,' ‘problem-based education,' ‘thematic investigation,' and ‘codifications’ shaped educational thought and practice. The paper also traces a longer relationship with Freire through the International Council for Adult Education and various international gatherings over the following decades. The memoir concludes with an original poem, “Surf on Paulino,” written on the first anniversary of Freire’s death, celebrating his intellectual legacy, his warmth, and his place in the tradition of Brazilian mysticism.
A policy brief on knowledge mobilization: The power of creativity and action
(UNESCO Chair, 2022-05-11) Hall, Budd L; Tandon, Rajesh
This brief fits within the Data and Knowledge Production theme, but also relates to the Futures of Higher Education and the Higher Education and the SDGs themes. If we are to meet the challenges of our times, the research produced within higher education institutions and their partners needs a dramatic shift from the academic mode of knowledge production to a societal mode of knowledge production and sharing. it will require that attention be given to the creation of locally contextualised knowledge with priorities for action that affect the everyday lives of people where they live and work. The Active participation of local stake-holders---community, local governments, local business, women & youth-in co-producing and sharing the knowledge of such local solutions can be facilitated through their involvement in the research process. Knowledge mobilization (KmB) is therefore called for. Our brief provides a context for understanding the need for KmB as well as providing examples of how creative or arts-based approaches to KmB have been proven to be effective.
A reflective book review-Challenging the professionalization of adult Education: John ohliger and contradictions in modern practice
(2010) Hall, Budd L
Dr. Budd Hall's reflective review of Challenging the Professionalization of Adult Education (Grace & Rocco) examines the intellectual and political legacy of John Ohliger, who spent decades working outside the academy to defend adult education's democratic roots. Drawing on personal encounters and shared political work, Hall traces how Ohliger pushed back against the professionalization and marketization of adult learning, highlighting commitment to voluntary, community-based, and socially engaged education. The review connects Ohliger's thought to participatory research and popular education, arguing that his critique of compulsory, market-driven approaches remain relevant to contemporary adult education and social change. Hall ultimately presents Ohliger as a public intellectual whose work continues to inspire efforts to preserve the democratic and transformative potential of the field.
A river of life: Learning and environmental social movements
(Interface: A journal for and about social movement, 2009) Hall, Budd L
What and how can we learn from social movements? According to Dr. Budd Hall, social movements are intense locations for knowledge to come together and for learning to happen. They are seen as one of the best routes to social transformation because they bring together action, learning and social change. In this 2009 paper, Dr. Hall reflects on the epistemic value of social movements in the creation of knowledge. He begins by exploring what a social movement is and outlines its characteristic features as discussed by different schools of thought. The paper is a collaborative effort involving teams from three organisations and presents qualitative analyses based on case studies of environmental social movements from countries like Venezuela, Brazil, Sudan, India, Canada and many more. From these cases, the paper formulates key principles of environmental social movement learning, including seeing humans as part of nature rather than separate from it, deconstructing power relations in our relationship with nature and with each other as a first step toward transforming them, and several other interconnected insights. Through both theoretical reflection and grounded case studies, Hall argues that social movements, while leading to social transformation, also facilitate deep personal transformation by creating powerful spaces for learning.
Adult learning, global civil society and politics. October 15-17, 1997
(1979-10-17) Hall, Budd L
What role can adult education play in strengthening global civil society and advancing social transformation in an increasingly capital driven world? In this paper, Dr. Budd Hall situates this question within a context where globalisation has intensified the dominance of capital while deepening social, ecological and economic instability. He reflects on the contemporary political economy in which global markets appear powerful yet remain fragile and extractive. In response to this expansion of global capitalism, Hall posits that the presence and influence of global civil society have also grown, creating new spaces for resistance, cooperation and collective action. Engaging with debates on development, ecological crisis and democratic participation, and drawing on examples such as the 1992 Global Forum and emerging transnational networks, he examines how global citizens’ action is being shaped across diverse contexts. Hall invites readers to consider how more people can meaningfully contribute to these movements and emphasises the crucial role of adult educators in fostering critical awareness, building solidarities and deepening engagement with global civil society. He urges educators to remain clear that the world is not okay, and that adult education is essential for collective and transformative change.
African studies, the formation of knowledge and political commitment
(University of Ottawa, 1978-05-04) Hall, Budd L
This knowledge resource is a keynote address delivered by Dr. Budd L. Hall at the University of Ottawa in May 1978, at the joint conference of the Canadian Association of African Studies and the Institute for International Cooperation. Hall raises two central questions: what responsibilities do African studies scholars carry within the Canadian political economy? And how does a genuine commitment to oppressed peoples reshape the practice of research? In his view, academic knowledge production has largely come to serve state and market interests, at the expense of the knowledge systems held by working and indigenous communities. Based on Gramsci, Cabral, and Freire, Hall challenges the neutrality of mainstream research and points toward participatory and activist alternatives, citing community-led examples from Kenya and Tanzania. The address stands as an early and enduring contribution to participatory research thought, speaking directly to present-day debates on knowledge democracy and the decolonization of research practice.
Against epistemicide: Decolonising higher education
(2020) Hall, Budd L; Tandon, Rajesh
How have knowledge systems been shaped by histories of enclosure and dispossession? In this reflective essay, Dr. Budd Hall and Dr. Rajesh Tandon examine how colonisation and the enclosing of knowledge are embedded within the same paradigm through which capital was accumulated by dispossession, as theorised by David Harvey. Drawing parallels with the enclosure movement in England, they argue that common lands were gradually privatised, displacing those who depended on them. In a similar way, wealth extracted through colonisation helped build universities that enclosed knowledge within their walls, regulating who could access it and who could legitimately produce it. These enclosures determined which knowledge systems were recognised and legitimised and which were dismissed as irrational, reinforcing distinctions between knowers and non-knowers. The essay traces how these processes continue to shape contemporary academic institutions and their authority over what counts as legitimate knowledge. In response, the authors describe the establishment of the UNESCO Chair in Community Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education as a deliberate effort to reverse the colonisation of knowledge systems by creating structures and processes for the co-creation of knowledge with social movements and civil society partners, grounded in a commitment to epistemic justice.
Among equals: Strengthening community-based knowledge mobilization through international cooperation
(2005) Hall, Budd L
This paper details the formation of a collaboration between the University of Victoria and the Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA). Dr. Budd Hall describes how shared commitments to participatory research, community engagement, and knowledge mobilization brought the two organizations together and what that collaboration looked like in practice, from joint course development and student exchanges to co-organized research conferences. The paper outlines the strengths and priorities of each organization and highlights collaborative initiatives in continuing education, participatory research, community–university partnerships, curriculum development, and international exchanges. The paper also recognizes key principles that have supported the collaboration, including trust, reciprocity, flexibility, and respect for diverse forms of knowledge and experience. The paper provides an example of how institutions from different contexts can work together to build research capacity, strengthen knowledge mobilization, and support socially engaged learning at local and international levels.
An emerging global civil society? Implications for learning and work
(2000) Hall, Budd L
What role can adult education play in strengthening global civil society and democratic social change? In this paper, Dr. Budd Hall explores the meanings, uses, and utility of global civil society as both a concept and a lived political practice, tracing its emergence alongside the deepening contradictions of economic globalization. The author argues that global civil society is not an actor itself but a space where social movement organizations, international advocacy networks, non-governmental organizations, and citizen groups interact, resist, and reimagine world politics. Based on theorists including Lipschutz, Hyden, Boulding, and Gramsci, the paper examines why this concept has gained urgency now, pointing to the erosion of state sovereignty; the proliferation of NGOs across the majority world, the growing disillusionment with market-driven globalization, and the shipwreck, as Latouche puts it, of the grand society that has left hundreds of millions as castaways. Networking emerges as the defining practice of global civil society: informal, flexible, decentralized, and capable of rapid mobilization across borders. The paper then turns to adult education, arguing it has a distinctive and underutilized role in strengthening the learning dimensions of global civil society. Transformative adult education, the author contends, supports shifts away from consumerist growth models toward life-affirming, democratically produced visions of collective life, making it not peripheral to global civil society but central to its survival.
An introduction to the Ekoln letter on universities in the era of climate change
(2021) Masschelein, Jan; Lotz-Sisitka, Heila; Hall, Budd L; O’Brien, Karen; Dinerstein, Ana; Andreo, Vanessa; Thiel, Pella; Eiríksdó r, Lovísa; Chabay, Ilan; Hine, Dougald; Wright, Sue; Barrineau, Sanna; Barne, Ronald; Stein, Sharon; Stoddard, Isak; Webster, Noah Sobe; Facer, Keri; Kulundu-Bolus, Injairu
When we think about the climate crisis and the big changes happening to our planet, we must ask ourselves, What should universities do to help?" The authors of The Ekoln Letters: Universities in the Era of Climate Change, including Keri Facer and other contributors, try to answer this question. They wrote this paper as an introduction to a collection of letters that scholars, activists, artists, and educators exchanged with each other in 2020 after a big meeting they planned got cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper looks at how universities can do more than just address individual aspects of the climate crisis. It considers the broader social, cultural, and ecological changes that are needed in response to these challenges. The authors explore themes of sustainability, institutional transformation, and the role of universities in responding to ecological and social change. They critically examine how universities are currently structured and reimagine what they might become in the future. Through these reflections and exchanges, the paper highlights the need for universities to become spaces of dialogue, collective care, and shared responsibility, capable of engaging meaningfully with the uncertainty and complexity that define the era of climate change.
Beyond epistemicide: Knowledge democracy and higher education
(UNESCO Chair, 2015) Hall, Budd L
As universities grapple with their role in a world marked by inequality and ecological crisis, the question of whose knowledge counts has become impossible to ignore. This paper situates higher education within a longer history of epistemicide, the systematic erasure of indigenous and marginalized ways of knowing, and examines how knowledge democracy offers a path toward repair. By drawing on examples of community-based research and indigenous scholarship, it argues for reimagining universities as sites of dialogue rather than dominance, where multiple epistemologies can coexist. The study underscores both the transformative promise and the unresolved tensions of this shift, positioning knowledge democracy less as a finished framework than as an unfolding experiment in rebalancing power and voice.
Beyond epistemicide: Knowledge democracy, higher education and the path towards pluriversality
(UNESCO Chair, 2016) Hall, Budd L
How have our knowledge systems been shaped by histories of colonisation, enclosure and dispossession, and what might it mean to move beyond them? In this lecture delivered in Brighton, Dr. Budd L. Hall traces how contemporary knowledge systems are rooted in long histories of land theft, colonial expansion and epistemicide. Beginning with a personal account of his family’s migration to Canada and the acquisition of Indigenous land through illegal and immoral means, he situates his own access to higher education within the material histories of dispossession that financed universities and consolidated Western knowledge systems as dominant. Drawing on David Harvey’s notion of accumulation by dispossession and Boaventura de Sousa Santos’ concept of epistemicide, Hall argues that universities have functioned as sites of enclosure, determining who is authorised to produce knowledge and whose knowledge systems are dismissed. Through examples from India, Uganda, South Africa and beyond, the lecture highlights alternative knowledge systems that persist despite marginalisation. It calls for transforming knowledge systems through knowledge democracy, co-creation and a sustained commitment towards epistemic justice.
Beyond partnerships: Embracing complexity to understand and improve research collaboration for global development
(2021) Fransman, Jude; Hall, Budd L; Hayman, Rachel; Narayanan, Pradeep; Newman, Kate; Tandon, Rajesh
While there is a burgeoning literature on the benefits of research collaboration for development, it tends to promote the idea of the ‘partnership’ as a bounded site in which interventions to improve collaborative practice can be made. This article draws on complexity theory and systems thinking to argue that such an assumption is problematic, divorcing collaboration from wider systems of research and practice. Instead, a systemic framework for understanding and evaluating collaboration is proposed. This framework is used to reflect on a set of principles for fair and equitable research collaboration that emerged from a programme of strategic research and capacity strengthening conducted by the Rethinking Research Collaborative (RRC) for the United Kingdom (UK)’s primary research funder: UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The article concludes that a systemic conceptualisation of collaboration is more responsive than a ‘partnership’ approach, both to the principles of fairness and equity and also to uncertain futures.
Big Tent Communique VI. Local identities and global citizenship: A message from Catania and challenges for universities
(2015-11-04) Hall, Budd L
In a world facing growing inequality, conflict, and environmental strain, the Sixth Big Tent Communiqué reflects on what role universities can play in responding to these challenges. It sees higher education as more than classrooms and research, calling for closer ties with communities and a stronger sense of responsibility to society. The communiqué raises questions about how universities can support young people, create knowledge that connects rather than divides, and rebuild trust in uncertain times. Instead of final answers, it leaves open the possibility that the future of universities will depend on how far they are willing to rethink their purpose.
Breaking the monopoly of knowledge: research methods, participation and development
(1977) Hall, Budd L
Why do we undertake research, and in whose interests does it operate? In this essay, Dr. Budd Hall critically examines the dominant top down traditions of research in adult education and questions their claims to objectivity. He argues that conventional survey based approaches often extract information from communities while offering little in return. They produce knowledge that can be inaccurate, alienating, and detached from tangible social action. Engaging with radical educators and theorists such as Paulo Freire, Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss, Hall outlines the foundations of an alternative participatory research approach. This approach views knowledge as collectively produced and rooted in lived experience rather than imposed by external experts. Research, in this framing, becomes a process of dialogue, reflection, and action directed toward liberation and social transformation. The essay invites readers to reconsider the purpose of research itself and to imagine methodologies that expand human creative potential while challenging entrenched hierarchies of knowledge and power.