Education by the Escola Nacional Florestan Fernandes as Transmodernization from Capitalist Consumerism

ABSTRACT Objective: to analyze the critical debates raised by the Escola Nacional Florestan Fernandes (ENFF) in one of its courses, in order to highlight how this education fosters self-defense initiatives that marketing should acknowledge in consumerist discussions. Theoretical approach: the decolonial concept of transmodernity and Paulo Freire’s pedagogy of the oppressed are used to base our analysis. Methods: with a decolonial perspective as our guiding epistemology, we collected data from an online course offered by ENFF. Initially, the authors viewed all videos individually, and subsequently, discussed the pre-analyses. The second round of analysis included coding the data, so we could reach categories of analysis. Results: an approach aligned with the pedagogy of the oppressed is adopted by ENFF’s, since it: raises awareness of its students about the hegemonic structure that oppresses them; criticizes the illusion this oppressive structure creates about benefiting all, emphasizing that a rupture is only possible if the oppressed are behind it; and proposes a path beyond this oppressive structure, specifically through agroecology. The education by ENFF can thus be interpreted as a transmodernization from capitalist consumerism, given it foments, from subalternized settings, self-defense awareness among its students, who come from oppressed contexts. Conclusions: consumerism has been scantly questioned in marketing. However, its activism has been hardly able to deal with the racism, sexism, and coloniality associated to this concept. By presenting a form of educational perspective that resides outside of capitalist principles, a new self-defense model can be considered in the search to protect individuals from market forces. RESUMO Objetivo: analisar os debates críticos levantados pela Escola Nacional Florestan Fernandes (ENFF) em um de seus cursos, para evidenciar como tal educação fomenta iniciativas de autodefesa que o marketing deveria reconhecer em consumerismo. Marco teórico: o conceito decolonial de transmodernidade e a pedagogia do oprimido de Paulo Freire são utilizados em nossa análise. Metodologia: tendo a perspectiva decolonial como nossa epistemologia, coletamos dados de um curso on-line da ENFF. Inicialmente, os autores visualizaram os vídeos individualmente e, posteriormente, discutiram conjuntamente as pré-análises. A segunda rodada de análise incluiu a codificação dos dados, para formar as categorias de análise. Resultados: uma abordag