VIRTUAL MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY
Abstract
Introduction: This study investigates how individual voice and agency can emerge within authoritarian structures. Using the historical case of Hans-Joachim Marseille, a German fighter pilot during the Second World War, the paper explores the tension between individual subjectivity and institutional control in Nazi Germany. The aim is not to valorise the individual, but to examine how expressions of agency may appear within highly constrained environments. Methods: The study employs qualitative document analysis of historical sources, including biographical accounts, archival material, and historiographical literature. Episodes in which Marseille’s behaviour diverged from institutional norms were identified and analysed. These were interpreted through the theoretical frameworks of Paulo Freire’s concept of humanisation and Gert Biesta’s notion of subjectification. Results: The analysis identifies several instances of non-conforming behaviour, including Marseille’s public performance of jazz music, his relationship with a prisoner of war, and expressions of empathy toward enemy pilots. While these actions did not constitute organised resistance, they can be understood as micro-level expressions of agency that disrupted normative expectations within an authoritarian system. Discussion: The findings suggest that subjectification may occur through subtle, context-bound acts rather than overt political opposition. Drawing on Freire and Biesta, the study demonstrates how individuals can maintain moral awareness and express agency within restrictive systems. The paper contributes to educational debates on democratic formation by highlighting that voice and agency can emerge even under conditions of constraint, thereby expanding understandings of how subjectivity is enacted in practice.
Trygve Steiro is affiliated with NTNU and Nord University (part time). His work focuses on communication, leadership, democratic education, and pedagogy under conditions of uncertainty. He has previously worked within military higher education in Norway, including at the Norwegian Air Force Academy in Trondheim. His current research explores questions of agency, subjectification, and ethical judgement in historical and contemporary contexts.
Ragnar Vennatrø holds a Cand.philol. degree in archaeology from the NTNU University Museum and has 25 years of experience in Norwegian heritage management archaeology. He has published within fields such as archaeology, pedagogy, practice-based research, and posthumanist theory. His research interests include universal human approaches to archaeological understanding, archaeology as a contemporary practice, contemporary archaeology, dark and traumatic heritage, practical landscape understanding, and the pedagogical use of archaeological practices of knowledge as a form of fundamental gestalt-therapeutic and rhizomatic learning. For several years, Vennatrø has been responsible for the development of outdoor educational programmes for school classes. He is also an experienced archaeological field illustrator.