Robert Haworth

Robert H. Haworth is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Foundations & Policy Studies at West Chester University. He teaches courses focusing on the social foundations of education, anarchism, and critical pedagogies. He has published and presented internationally on anarchism, youth culture, informal learning spaces, and critical social studies education. He cofounded worker-owned and ­-operated Regeneration TV as well as other academic research collectives. Currently, he is working on a coedited book on Critical Perspectives and Informal Learning, as well as writing a single authored book entitled: Horizontal Imaginaries: Education, Spontaneity and Desire.

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Praise

“A thorough and balanced collection of the writings of the doyen of myriad horizontal educational projects in Spain and more still across the world. Equally welcome are the well-researched introduction and the afterword that underline both the multiplicity of anarchist perspectives on education and social transformation and the complexity of Ferrer’s thinking.”
—Chris Ealham, author of Living Anarchism: Jose Peirats and the Spanish Anarcho-Syndicalist Movement

“This volume brings together for the first time a comprehensive collection of Ferrer’s own writings, documenting the daily life and aims of the Escuela Moderna, alongside reflections, often critical, by contemporary anarchists and other radical thinkers. Together with the editors’ thoughtful Introduction, the result is a fascinating collection—essential reading for anyone keen to go beyond the image of Ferrer the martyr of libertarian education and to understand the perennial moral and political questions at the heart of any project of education for freedom.”
—Judith Suissa, author of Anarchism and Education: A Philosophical Perspective

“Bray and Haworth have here provided a great gift to the history of liberatory education and to its possible social futures, as this book is sure to become a definitive text on the origins and development of the international Modern School movement.”
—Richard Kahn, Antioch University Los Angeles

“Part martyr, part visionary, Francisco Ferrer and the Modern School Movement he created have continued to preoccupy educational reformers and political activists despite or because of Ferrer’s execution by a repressive Spanish government in 1909. Revealing Ferrer’s flaws, Mark Bray and Robert Haworth nevertheless evoke a person and a period when political visionaries and educational reformers promised and almost succeeded in transforming civic life in Europe and the Americas.”
—Temma Kaplan, distinguished professor emerita, Rutgers University

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Praise

“How do we create spaces of learning that will help us to avoid the pitfalls of routine, hierarchy, and passivity? In other words, how do we learn to change the world, together? Those trying to figure this out will enjoy reading about the experiments, strategies, and logics of anarchist education in this rich collection.”
—Lesley Wood, professor of sociology, York University

“Out of the Ruins provides a powerful critique of the current state of education—and teaching—by exploring a diverse range of radical pedagogical practices and liberatory educational theories, coupled with on-the-ground case studies of informal alternative learning spaces. Moving beyond simplistic calls for ‘educational reform’ each contributor challenges us in some way to rethink the entire social system as it relates to education, including the ways that inequality and capitalist values shape the prevailing hierarchical, market-driven approaches to learning, teaching, and students.”
—Jake Alimahomed-Wilson, associate professor of sociology, California State University, Long Beach

“Out of the Ruins is a timely book that counters current narrow conceptions about the limits of education and challenges neoliberal hegemony within the way we conceive of educational possibilities and building new forms of educational communities that can think outside these parameters. The editors have called forth an international array of cutting-edge scholars that lay bare a powerful critique of narrow conceptions of teaching, learning and education. A must read!”
—Abraham P. DeLeon, associate professor, University of Texas at San Antonio

“Haworth and Elmore tell us that we have a right to a new utopia, a transformative vision of society and interconnectedness where learning supports justice, redefined relations with the rest of nature and the creation of healthy communities. They call this radical informal learning. We might call it the true purpose of learning. The passion, anger and commitment of the contributors can be found on every page.”
—Budd L. Hall, co-chair of the UNESCO Chair in Community Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education, professor of community development, University of Victoria

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Praise

“Pedagogy is a central concern in anarchist writing and the free skool has played a central part in movement activism. By bringing together an important group of writers with specialist knowledge and experience, Robert Haworth’s volume makes an invaluable contribution to the discussion of these topics. His exciting collection provides a guide to historical experiences and current experiments and also reflects on anarchist theory, extending our understanding and appreciation of pedagogy in anarchist practice.”  —Dr. Ruth Kinna, Senior Lecturer in Politics, Loughborough University, author of Anarchism: A Beginners Guide and coeditor of Anarchism and Utopianism

“With Anarchist Pedagogies, Rob Haworth helps us to move towards a dynamic and lived praxis of socialist libertarianism, bringing together some of the most articulate voices on the educational left to thoroughly explore the theoretical, historical, political, and pedagogical elements of anarchism today. The imperatives of mutual aid, solidarity, and working-class activism are as important and relevant as they ever were. This volume is a must-read for all students of education, teachers, and those dedicated to the struggle for social justice. Bravo!”   —Dr. Marc Pruyn, Monash University, Melbourne, co-editor of Teaching Peter McLaren

“This original contribution to revolutionary praxis in education could not come at a more urgent moment. It deserves to be read and its recommendations unleashed in the battlefields of capital.”  —Peter McLaren, Professor, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

“I worry sometimes that too many contemporary anarchists in North America celebrate anti-intellectualism by resisting both the study of new ideas and the histories of previous actions. It’s very heartening, then, for me to see these things being explored in Anarchist Pedagogies by a gathering of young, smart thinkers interested in pondering the complex relationships between liberty and learning. Deschooling, unschooling, informal learning, and radical critical pedagogy are all part of the mix here. Haworth has done well in bringing these voices together; you may not always agree with them, but you will be excited enough to engage with what they have to say.”  —Don LaCoss, Fifth Estate 

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Book Events

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Reviews

• Out of the Ruins: An Anarchist Studies Journal Review
• Anarchist Pedagogies Reviewed in Free Voices
• Detailing radical attempts imagining impossible agendas
• Anarchist Pedagogies Reviewed in Maximum Rock N Roll
• Anarchist Pedagogies Reviewed in The Anarchist Journal
• Out of the Ruins: A review
• Out of the Ruins: A Review
• Out of the Ruins Reviewed in Pedagogy, Culture & Society
• Francesc Ferrer i Guardia: Anarchist Education and the Revolutionary General Strike

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Interviews

• Education, Infrastructure, Insurrection: Mark Bray on It’s Going Down
• Mark Bray on Millennials Are Killing Capitalism
• Interchange – The Martyrdom of Francisco Ferrer: A Conversation with Mark Bray
• Mark Bray on Anarchy On Air
• Mark Bray on From Below Podcast— Antifa, Occupy, Horizontalism and Anarchism
• Watch Mark Bray and Rob Haworth on Francisco Ferrer
• Mark Bray talking about Francisco Ferrer and the Founding of the Modern School on A Better World

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Mentions

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Blog

• Excerpt: From Deschooling to Unschooling: Rethinking Anarcho-pedagogy after Ivan Illich