hooks: Theory as practice

In her chapter, “Theory as Liberatory Practice” hooks contests the “false dichotomy between theory and practice” (65), citing the common contempt of theory and discussion in favor of “action.” hooks rebuts that theory is an action itself, necessary to the process of reformation and liberation, and “emerges from the concrete, from my efforts to make sense of everyday life experiences, from my efforts to intervene critically in my life and the lives of others” (70). I think this connection between theory and personal experiences reflects a Freirean pedagogy, which expresses the inseparable link between experience and learning. To hooks, theory should inform and be informed by personal experience.