Capitalism in its current stage is undergoing profound transformations, namely: the displacement of global industrial production to the Asian axis without managing to transform itself into the new engine of the world economy; the globalization of the international division of labor, the digitization and computerization of production; the investment in patents and know-how; the progressive deterioration of working conditions, job instability and informality in the world of work, the deterioration of the environment as a result of the extractive accumulation model, which poses a risk to humanity and the entire planet (Katz, 2018).

Latin America, as a subordinate region, has intensified its role as an exporter of raw materials in recent years, while industrial development has steadily declined, as has investment in information technology and the number of patents. It has also been experiencing cycles of indebtedness, stemming from financial speculation that ultimately cripple national finances, leading to adjustment programs that further deteriorate living conditions for the population.

The emergence of large cities, with little productive development (linked to the tertiary sector of the economy) and an increasingly uninhabited countryside resulting from the concentration of land ownership in few hands makes the region one of the most unequal in the world, which, "bombarded" by the logic of the consumer society driven by capital (fundamental for its reproduction), leads to a situation of insecurity that affects the entire population.

It is also worth noting the proliferation of evangelical churches which, with an individualistic discourse, deeply resonate with popular sectors, promising salvation based on the bonds they build within the church and disputing territory with social and grassroots organizations that work from the principles of cooperation and self-management and challenge the State to guarantee social rights and the basic needs of the population.

Latin America and the Caribbean are experiencing times marked by expressions that, in themselves, might seem contradictory, yet which nevertheless reveal the inherent tensions of the social, political, and economic processes taking place in the region. On the one hand, there is an emerging wave of progressive governments, some of which adopt an explicit left-wing bias (such as Mexico, Colombia, and Peru); and on the other, there is the consolidation of fascist and right-wing movements that enter the political arena, generating support and consensus among the sectors most harmed by the policies they themselves implement. Bolsonarism in Brazil, for example, highlighted that the right could also win democratic elections and resonate with the perceptions and beliefs of those most affected by these policies. But it also exposed the "procedures" These are the means by which a candidate is constructed: control of the mass media and the judiciary, the use of social networks, and the support of evangelical groups. And this is not an isolated phenomenon, but rather one that plays a prominent role in shaping the political structures of countries.

It is well known that common sense (Gramsci, 1973), as a construct of the dominant class, contains within itself disparate and even contradictory elements, but which, legitimized by the mainstream media and reinforced by the conscious and deliberate use of social networks, have the power to be assimilated as true and stripped of any underlying intentions. Thus, common sense encompasses expressions that are the result of the experience of domination in all its dimensions and also germinal expressions of its overcoming, of a worldview capable of expressing the needs, experiences, and perspectives of subordinate sectors.

In recent years, political expressions identified with so-called progressivism or the left have come to power through elections. To name one of the most notable cases, the popular uprising in Chile led to Boric's rise to the presidency, a significant development considering the impact and effects of the Pinochet dictatorship on shaping national identities. Furthermore, a process of constitutional reform began, bringing into the political arena actors whose opportunities for participation had previously been limited.

Furthermore, the case of Colombia, with Petro's recent presidency and France's vice-presidency; the victory of Pedro Castillo; the triumph of Xiomara Castro in Honduras; the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico; are some of the milestones of this historical moment that, despite their limitations, are placing the problems of oppressed people, women, black people, and the sectors most disadvantaged by neoliberal policies on the agenda.

However, the global pandemic caused by COVID-19 has exacerbated existing social inequalities, exposing the deep-rooted structures of social injustice in Latin America. These inequalities have manifested themselves, most notably, in access to healthcare and sanitation systems, and, significantly, in education, widening the social gap based on access to technologies and educational pathways differentiated by social class. In this context, certain limitations are evident in the current historical moment, with economies increasingly dependent on global economies and large financial institutions.

Another defining characteristic of our time is the fragmentation of the popular movement and the increased difficulty in overcoming this segmentation in favor of a unifying project. The challenges to social mobilization resulting from the pandemic are compounded by its subjective effects on individuals, leading to greater social immobility, apathy, and even uncertainty about the future. In this context, Popular Education and Critical Pedagogies can contribute to consolidating emerging projects in local communities, fostering improved living conditions and shaping alternative subjectivities that break the immobility and apathy characteristic of our times. Furthermore, exploring how common sense is formed, as well as its contradictions and disparate elements, through the lens of Popular Education and Critical Pedagogies, can help express the genuine interests of marginalized groups, enabling them to synthesize their own worldview. Political education and the development of educational alternatives are fundamental in this regard, to give back to the people what has been taken from them.

Educational privatization is based on the premise that everything done in the private and commercial sphere is more efficient and of higher quality than what is done in the state sphere. A fundamental task in the ideological struggle is to recover the emancipatory meaning of fundamental concepts such as education. In this sense, the fight is also for the defense of public schools, embracing their 19th-century, positivist logic and their outdated structure (regulated by the era of industry) to adapt them to new realities, to transform them into a meaningful space, full of purpose, for teachers, students, and the community.

In the three-year period 2019-2022, we established the following common theme for this new project: How can we build projects from Popular Education and Critical Pedagogies (PE and PC) that put life at the center? To address this, we identified three key issues:

1. The relationship with the State and the power of the alternative in the experiences of Popular Education and Popular Communities in Latin America and the Caribbean. This core includes the following aspects: (a) limits and scope of the alternative; (b) relationships and tensions between the public, the community, the popular and the state; (c) defense and transformation/reconstruction of public education at all levels from Popular Education and Popular Communities in the cycle of new progressive governments in the region.

This raises a number of questions about the meaning of the relationship with the State and the alternative in the current context: what is the emancipatory power of experiences that claim to be alternative? How can we project pedagogies of Popular Education and Civic Engagement in terms of what is possible, and what can Popular Education and Civic Engagement contribute? What does it mean to develop a practice of Popular Education and Civic Engagement? How can we conceive of these systemic alternatives to confront the impacts of capitalism and the fragmentation of the popular movement?

Another area of ​​inquiry focuses on the subjects and settings of Popular Education and Community Education and their links to the State, as well as the role of social and popular movements. How can these movements intervene in the development of alternative projects to the hegemonic order, and specifically educational projects? How can they contribute to the formation of a Popular Public University? How do Popular and Community Education schools challenge the public and state spheres within the framework of building a Popular Public School?

This problematic knot allows us to unravel tensions such as the feasibility of implementing Popular Education and Civic Engagement (PE) in public schools, as well as the achievement of genuine participation by social and grassroots movements in the development of proposals within universities. There are prevailing perceptions about the difficulties of generating PE and CP experiences in state-run institutions. Furthermore, the university's origins are marked by a focus on elite training, an identity-based bias, and an academic colonial legacy that has prioritized academic excellence over real-world processes in local communities. However, numerous examples demonstrate the potential for diverse alternative experiences. Therefore, unraveling these complexities allows us to analyze the emergence of alternative proposals that directly challenge national education systems.

2. Disputes over hegemony, the processes of forming counter-hegemonic political subjectivities, and the role of Popular Education and Communist Parties in this framework. Here we find the following aspects: a) hegemony as domination; b) hegemony as possibility; c) counter-hegemonic practices of Popular Education and Communist Parties as disputes over meaning in education; d) militant subjectivities and counter-hegemony.

Emancipatory experiences stemming from Popular Education and Popular Communities place anti-capitalism, anti-patriarchalism, anti-ableism, and anti-racism within the realm of possibility. It is crucial to turn our attention to the subjects themselves, their reconfigurations, the new popular subjectivities, and the changes they are undergoing. It is here that Popular Education and Popular Communities play an important role in the construction of subjectivities, incorporating three dimensions: collective subjects, a critical reading of the context, and the project itself.

This core issue will revolve around the construction of alternative hegemonies, also considering the aforementioned epochal shift. The key questions guiding this reflection are: How can we strengthen activism within social and popular movements and how can we effectively influence communities? How are hegemonic projects consolidated today? How can we conceive of building alternative hegemonies? What are the effects of neoliberalism, especially on living conditions and subjectivities? What role do Popular Education and Communist Parties play in maintaining or establishing progressive governments in Latin America and the Caribbean? What does it mean to build a militant subjectivity from within Popular Education and Communist Parties, and what impact does this have on constructing alternative hegemonies? How can we articulate collective subjects to challenge the current hegemony?

Political education, the central theme of the 2019-2022 Working Group, remains an essential aspect within this core issue of counter-hegemonic construction. Thus, the question of emancipation is once again relevant. The construction of alternative hegemonies must emerge from protest and move towards proposals, encompassing the emotional and psychological dimensions of feeling and thinking, as well as the poetic and aesthetic dimensions.

3. EP and PC in the defense of life and rights as common goods. This problematic core includes: a) new epistemologies in defense of life, diversity and its rights; b) intergenerational relations and psychosocial processes in the defense of life and rights: emancipation as a field of dispute and as a task of the present.

This opens up a field of questions: what can EP and PC projects contribute to building alternatives, with real impact, in the struggle for the commons and the defense of life? How can we build community and forms of collective and community-based management of the commons? How can we recover historical practices and experiences that propose another way of relating to nature and the environment in order to build a collective memory? How can we establish the defense of life and rights as common goods in the face of the logic of capitalist accumulation?

The epistemologies emerging from collective mobilization challenge the Eurocentric perspective that disadvantages the environment through developmentalist and extractivist logics. In response, we reclaim the agency of alternatives for dignified life through a pedagogical approach guided by ethical and political actions. This pedagogical movement expresses and symbolizes a set of struggles and projects that summon hope, autonomy, freedom, and indignation to resist the amnesia surrounding the political genocide committed against identities, territories, and political expressions antagonistic to the hegemonic order in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Realizing this right to life requires building an intergenerational bond, a continuous educational process, a repertoire of demands for human dignity, and an invitation to critical and self-critical reflection. It implies energizing multiple collective actions to demand rights at all levels of justice and democracy, guaranteeing human rights for large population groups living in precarious conditions, excluded, and unequal. We ask ourselves how to address the historical, political, and educational challenge of creating social structures that respect human rights, otherness, diversity, and difference.

Emancipation is a field of dispute and a task of the present. The struggle for the commons is a form of political action that challenges the relationship between the state and the market.

Methodologically, each problem area is expected to work with a degree of autonomy and share its progress in an internal seminar. Opportunities for interaction between problem areas will be created, involving the sharing of reflections, the identification of cross-cutting problems, and the development of publications based on these findings. The continuity and expansion of collaborative work between different working groups will be fostered, as detailed in the activity table of this work plan, with the aim of building agreements and consensus for potential integration of working groups in preparation for the presentation of the project immediately following.