Human rights, local development and education in contexts of social exclusion

Abstract

Education is an essential element to generate processes of struggle for human dignity in the territories, if it is understood as a cultural and liberation process, as explained by authors such as Paulo Freire and Herrera Flores. In areas of social exclusion, education presents different approaches and aspects, whereas the educational system is configured in a hegemonic way, within a neoliberal context based on homogeneous and universal educational models. However, as Freire points out, education as a practice of freedom is a dynamic and contextual construction that must start from the heterogeneity of the territories in order to generate processes that prevent social and human exclusion. In this sense, development and education could be defined as human rights, as emancipatory cultural processes towards human dignity.