The Alberta Experience: A Return to Popular Education?

Authors

  • Robert Barnetson University of Calgary

Abstract

The rise of the Canadian welfare state following the Second World War significantly contributed to the demise of radical adult education. But what of now? Alberta Premier Ralph Klein has charted a deficit-busting course, thereby violating the social contract and shackling adult education to the needs of the affluent. Will economic "necessity" precipitate a crisis of legitimation? And how will adult educators respond to the demands for conscientization from the working class? This article explores the author's impressions of contemporary adult education and its catalytic role in social change in the context of neo-Marxist literature.

Résumé

La croissance de l'État-providence au lendemain de la Seconde Guerre mondiale eut pour effet d'affaiblir considérablement le mouvement radical d'éducation des adultes. Or, qu'en est-il aujourd'hui? En Alberta, le premier ministre Ralph Klein a déclaré la guerre au déficit, violant de ce fait le contrat social et assujettissant l'éducation des adultes aux priorités de la classe opulente. La «nécessité économique» précipitera-t-elle une crise de légitimation? Comment l'éducation des adultes répondra-t-elle aux demandes de conscientisation de la classe ouvrière? Cet article fait état des impressions de l'auteur, dans le contexte des écrits néo-marxistes, quant au rôle de l'éducation des adultes en tant que catalyseur pour le changement social.

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Published

1996-05-01

How to Cite

Barnetson, R. (1996). The Alberta Experience: A Return to Popular Education?. Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, 10(1), 89–100. Retrieved from https://cjsae.library.dal.ca/index.php/cjsae/article/view/2082

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 1 (1996)

Section

Perspectives

License

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