The 9th ICCE: resistance and praxis against populism, sexism, racism.

The ICCE is an annual, peer-reviewed academic and scientific conference, a well-established tradition that attracts delegates from all over the world. At a time of economic crisis, when education is under siege by neoliberal capitalism and by neo-conservatism and aggressive nationalism, when teachers and academics are being proletarianised, youth criminalized, civilised and caring societies being stripped of welfare and benefits and rights, schools and universities turned into commodities, at such a time, critical education, as a theory and as a movement, as praxis, is clearly relevant. International communities of critical educators and activists are working together, and with other movements, to build active resistance to these processes and are engaged in fostering educational and social change leading to a more just, equal and fair society. Providing a vibrant and egalitarian platform, the ICCE encourages scholars, educators, activists, students, and those interested in contesting the current neo-liberal/ neo-conservative/ nationalist hegemony, to come together and engage in a free, democratic and productive dialogue. It deals with sharing academic developments and findings, oriented towards interdisciplinary reflections, experiences and proposals for a critical education aiming to have an actual impact on society. Since its establishment in 2011, the Conference took place at Universities in Athens, Greece (2011, 2012, 2017); Ankara, Turkey (2013); Thessaloniki, Greece (2014); Wroclaw, Poland (2015) and London, UK (2016, 2018). In particular, in this year's edition the theme is "alternatives and resistance to populism, sexism, racism". A theme that is obviously global and not just national. Where the trend is to build walls, we work to sow dialogue and solidarity. For the first time the Conference is hosted in Italy, particularly, in Naples, where a broad tradition of alternative experiences in the social educational field is rooted. A tradition that flows into a florid contemporaneity of experiences and ideas and that can be confronted with theories, proposals and practices of many countries of the world. This is the meaning of the collaboration between the Federico II University, the Institute of Education Policy Studies, the Municipality of Naples, the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples, the National Coordination of Reception Communities (CNCA). The current economic, social, and political crisis, that has been on-going for 30 years, is manifesting more deeply in education on a global scale. The crisis- part of, and resulting from, dominant neoliberal and neoconservative politics that are implemented and promoted internationally as the only solution, under the slogan there is no alternative (TINA), have substantially redefined the socio-political and ideological roles of education. Public education is shrinking. It loses its status as a social right. It is projected as a mere commodity for sale while it becomes less democratic, detheorised, de-critiqued. Understanding the causes of the crisis, the particular forms it takes in different countries and the multiple ways in which it influences education, constitute important questions for all those who do not limit their perspectives to the horizon of neoconservative, neoliberal and technocratic dogmas. Moreover, the critical education movement has the responsibility to rethink its views and practices in light of the crisis, and in the light of social, political and educational resistance in different countries- the paths that this crisis opens for challenging and overthrowing capitalist domination worldwide. Critical pedagogy is the field of education that does not align with neoliberalism, but seeks to overcome its obstacles, posed by exaggerated technicality, the competitive and individualistic model. The concept of freedom takes on dangerous connotations. Freedom of use weapons; freedom to close ports to immigrants; freedom of international capital flows; freedom from political bullying. The example of freedom that we are giving is absolutely negative and we in the field of pedagogy must certainly question ourselves. We need to ask ourselves if it is right that most of the guidelines on European policies come from the OECD, a financial and not a cultural/educational organization. We need to ask ourselves why for common sense is a shame to say “I am anti-fascist” and not “I am a fascist”. We have to ask ourselves if it is right to measure the educational commitment on values of individualism and competition. We need to ask ourselves if we are really giving the tools to understand the current world: the war among the poor, the suburbs against immigrants, the immigrants against immigrants, new poverty against ancient poverty, precarious against precarious. The war among the poor justifies slogans such as "American first, Italian first ..." We say education first.! Education is the only tool we have to fight populism, sexism, racism.