4 - The Radical and the Radioactive: Grasping the Roots of Theoretically Informed Praxis in Brazilian Studies on Critical Information Literacy

Summary

If humankind produces social reality (which in the ‘inversion of the praxis’ turns back upon them and conditions them), then transforming that reality is an historical task, a task for humanity.

(Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed)

The coincidence of the changing of circumstances and of human activity or self-changing can be conceived and rationally understood only as revolutionary practice [revolutionäre Praxis].

(Karl Marx, Theses on Feuerbach)

Introduction

Unlike the term information literacy, whose literary debut took place in the midst of the cold prescriptive format of institutional reports (Zurkowski, 1974), the concept of critical information literacy was forged in the heat of the academic environment – more specifically, in articles published in scientific journals from the North American field of library and information science, right at the dawn of the 21st century.

These first studies on critical information literacy (CIL) brought a teleological turn in the essence of information literacy (IL) goals as they were presented not only in Zurkowski’s Related Paper, but also in the two documents of the American Library Association (1989; 2000) that became an international reference for IL researchers in the area of library and information science (LIS), including the Brazilian field (Dudziak, 2016). Once directed towards efficiency in the search and use of information for personal growth, information literacy, in its critical frame, does not aim at the achievements of singular individuals, but at the emancipation of society as a whole.

In order to achieve emancipation and equality, an objective that traces back to the Aristotelian ethics of the common good, it is necessary to stimulate and encourage the development of a social consciousness about existing inequalities and forms of oppression. This social consciousness is what should guide individuals in their actions – something that CIL North American researcher James Elmborg (2006) summarises as theoretically informed praxis. The idea of praxis that permeates Elmborg’s writings has its origins in the critical pedagogy of the Brazilian philosopher and educator Paulo Freire (2005), a fundamental reference for Elmborg and other CIL pioneers from the USA such as Michelle Simmons (2005), Heidi Jacobs (2008), John J. Doherty and Kevin Ketchner (2005).

In Brazil, when we first published our theoretical reflections on CIL (Bezerra, 2015; Bezerra, Schneider and Brisola, 2017), our goal was to seek inspiration from our contemporary sources in the North.