Youth In Revolt: A Conversation with Henry Giroux

Earlier this summer I was fortunate enough to sit down with Henry Giroux for an extended interview that covered a range of topics. Professor Giroux holds the Global Television Network Chair in English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University. The influence of Professor Giroux on the fields of critical pedagogy, cultural studies, and media theory cannot be overstated as his work dominates all of these fields. Often his name is mentioned alongside giants of the field of public education like Paulo Freire, bell hooks, and Roger Simon.

Henry Giroux

The subject matter of the interview directly arose from my reading of Professor Giroux's newest book Youth in Revolt: Reclaiming a Democratic Future. In a nutshell, this book covers the impacts on youths from neoliberalism, rampant economic injustice, the retrenchment of the social welfare state, and the implementation of the austerity agenda. Professor Giroux links the "strengthening [of the] global capitalist project" under neoliberalism to range of assaults by the state on young people from skyrocketing rates of imprisoning racialized youths to the militarized crackdown on the Occupy Movement to the underfunding of public schools in the United States.

The interview is divided into three segments. The first segment delves into recent global events and sets the historical scene amid which anti-youth policies are being enacted by governments. The second segment delves into how youths are disciplined into submission under the neoliberal project. The third segment covers the emergence of youth-led social movements such as Idle No More and the Maple Spring. Taken together the interview paints a disturbing picture about how governments around the world are punishing young people, but also presents a vision about how youths can reclaim the levers of power to direct positive social change domestically and internationally.

Part 1: Setting the Scene

The questions in part one of the interview cover Professor Giroux's perspective on recent historical events (9/11, the financial crisis, the austerity agenda), globalization, the retrenchment of the social welfare state, and the ongoing implementation of the neoliberal project.

Part 2: Disciplining Youths - Prisons, Debt, and Social Control

Part two of the interview covers Professor Giroux's views on how youths are disciplined under the neoliberal project, how student debt is used to condition youths, how youths are now perceived to be a threat to society, and the rise of the punishing, carceral state.

Part 3: Youth in Revolt: Technology, Language, and Emerging Social Movements

Part three of the interview covers Professor Giroux's perspective on social media as a tool for activists, the use of language, how alternative media can be utilized by progressives for social change, and the emergence of youth-led social movements like Idle No More, Occupy, and the Maple Spring.

That's the extent of the interview and I hope everyone enjoyed it. For more from Professor Giroux, check out his website and his extensive writings on TruthOut.org. For more interviews from YouthAndWork.ca see this page.