For a situated perspective on unlearning: notes from the periphery

Abstract

This article theorizes unlearning as a way in which subjects seek to disentangle themselves from colonial and patriarchal knowledge formations, highlighting the political and affective work involved in moving away from dominant ideologies. The empirical basis for this formulation is an educational and political practice I followed as an ethnographer and allied linguist in the Complexo do Alemão, Rio de Janeiro. It focuses on the third edition of Faveladoc, a documentary filmmaking course offered in 2021 by the local NGO Raízes em Movimento to young residents of the neighborhood. The article analyzes a class dedicated to discussions of gender, race, and sexuality in a militarized context. Theoretically, it engages with perspectives on unlearning developed by authors from the so-called Global South, who emphasize the situated and often ambivalent nature of distancing oneself from hegemonic ideologies. The analysis focuses on how students responded to the perspective brought by the instructor. In interaction, students and teacher problematized their lived experiences, recognized internalized forms of violence, and challenged the recurring association between Blackness and suffering. Attentive to dynamics of (in)security and digital mediation, the article ultimately suggests that the classroom can be reimagined as a site of activism, collective critique, and epistemic experimentation—a space that unsettles dominant narratives and rehearses alternative futures from the periphery.