CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND CITIZEN FORMATION IN THE FACE OF THE CLIMATE CRISIS: PATHS TOWARD AN EMANCIPATORY PRAXIS

Abstract

The climate crisis constitutes one of the main expressions of the current socio-environmental crisis, implying the historical, social, economic, and political contradictions of the capitalist mode of production. In this context, this article aims to discuss how Critical Environmental Education can contribute to civic education in the face of the climate crisis, highlighting its potential to critically understand the historical, social, and political determinants of the socio-environmental crisis and to strengthen educational practices committed to human emancipation. This is a qualitative, bibliographical research, developed from the analysis of classic works and scientific productions. The discussions demonstrate that the climate crisis cannot be understood solely as a result of individual actions, but as an expression of the historically constructed relationships between society and nature, marked by the logic of exploitation and capital accumulation. From this perspective, Critical Environmental Education is configured as a political-pedagogical project aimed at the formation of critical subjects, capable of understanding the structural causes of the socio-environmental crisis, participating in democratic processes, and acting in the construction of socially just, environmentally sustainable societies oriented towards human emancipation.