The fiftieth anniversary of the publication in English of Paulo Freire’s seminal text, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, offers the opportunity for a re-appraisal in the age of the climate emergency, populist nationalism and fake news. Born in 1921 in Recife, Brazil, Freire was a philosopher, educator and activist who worked with illiterate peasants using a revolutionary methodology that elevated education beyond the classroom to wider social and economic transformation. Forced to flee his native Brazil following a military coup in 1964, Freire wrote Pedagogy of the Oppressed in exile, and he remains a touchstone figure for social justice activists in the global North and South.