“The revolution will be live” Towards a pedagogy of radical imaginaries beyond the Paris Commune

Young people in superdiverse, Western European cities grow up in challenging times. Income inequality, segregation, a lack of equal opportunities in education, systemic racism and climate change all indicate the need to look for new, collective political solutions to structural crises threatening their future. However, 21st-century youngsters have been raised in a neoliberal political culture promoting individualistic social and political attitudes. Additionally, growing distrust in institutional politics seem to substantiate a “youth disengagement paradigm.” This chapter explores the potential for contemporary critical social pedagogy which might enable us to raise present-day youth in another, more communal spirit. The analysis is built in reference to the movie “Les Misérables” by director Ladj Ly (2019) and explores the resonance of a political imaginary of the Paris Commune in contemporary youthful struggles to overcome social injustices and exclusion. The chapter explores how the political imaginary of the Commune can inspire a contemporary liberation pedagogy, enabling youth to challenge societal disparities in collective ways.