This book focuses on two of the most cited figures in the debate on radical education - Antonio Gramsci and Paulo Freire. Both regarded forms of adult education as having an important role to play in the struggle for liberation from oppression. In this book Peter Mayo examines the extent to which their combined insights can provide the foundation for a theory for our own times of transformative adult education. He focuses on three aspects of the pedagogical process in particular -- social relations, sites of practice and the content of adult education. He analyses their ideas and identifies some of the limitations in their work, notably the critical issues of gender and race which they do not address. The book concludes with a seminal attempt at synthesising their ideas in the context of other adult educators' more recent contributions in order to develop a theory of transformative adult education, including an assessment of its feasibility in the era of globalization and neoliberalism.

First Published in 1998. This book examines the ideas of two of the most controversial radical heroes of adult education, Antonio Gramsci and Paulo Freire, gauging their significance for the development of a radical politics of adult education in the post-Soviet, post-apartheid new world order. Gramsci offers a noble vision of the role of adult education in the creation of revolutionary Marxist hegemony; but the cause he lived and died for has all but collapsed. Nevertheless, his distinction between common sense and good sense, his theory of the intellectual and his concept of hegemony bear scrutiny today. In Freire's pedagogy of the oppressed, the relationship between leader and followed, teacher and student, is problematic and this book questions whether his pedagogy has the liberating potential he envisioned. The author considers and rejects the linkage of Gramsci's and Freire's ideas in the adult education literature. Nonetheless, Gramsci and Freire have huge symbolic importance as radical heroes in an under-theorized and marginalised field. The study highlights a problem with the radical hero phenomenon: when individuals become icons, their ideas cease to be open, and new insights do not emerge as challenge becomes inadmissible and debate dies. While neither Gramsci nor Freire can provide us with answers, Gramsci helps us address the difficult questions of purpose and content in the politics of adult education.

Social Justice Education for Teachers: Paulo Freire and the Possible Dream is a book that will help teachers in their commitment to and praxis of an education for social justice. The book traces the reception of Freire’s ideas in the USA, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia and provides some glimpses of topical yet seminal interventions in the philosophy of education, including studies of the relationships between Freire and Rousseau, Freire and Dewey, or Freire and Gramsci.

Through a series of writings from international scholars,Gramsci and Educational Thought pays tribute to theeducational influence of Antonio Gramsci, considered one of thegreatest social thinkers and political theorists of the 20thcentury. Represents sound social theory and a broad application andreinvention of Gramsci’s ideas Covers important areas such as language and education,community education, and social work education Features perspectives from different geographical contexts

A study of the increasing importance of community and workplace adult education in the First and Third Worlds. Marjorie Mayo looks at the impact of globalisation, economic restructuring and the enhanced role of community and voluntary organisations. She presents the case for wider understanding of the context and possibilities for local development as part of longer-term strategies for transformation. Marjorie Mayo examines the implications of adult learning for sustainable development for social justice, defined by local communities themselves. She takes case studies from Tanzania, Cuba, India and Nicaragua as well as from the industrialized 'North' to illustrate her themes. The book concludes by focusing on issues of culture, identity, diversity and changing consciousness; and the role of community education in strengthening collective confidence to effect social transformation.

Radicalizing Learning calls for a total rethinking of what the field of adult education stands for and how adult educators should assess their effectiveness. Arguing that major changes in society are needed to create a more just world, the authors set out to show how educators can help learners envision and enact this radical transformation. Specifically, the book explores the areas of adult learning, training, teaching, facilitation, program development, and research. Each chapter provides a guide to the different paradigms and perspectives that prevail across the field of theory and practice. The authors then tie all of the themes into how adult learning for participatory democracy works in a diverse society.

Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) is one of the major social and political theorists of the 20th century whose work has had an enormous influence on several fields, including educational theory and practice. Gramsci and Education demonstrates the relevance of Antonio Gramsci's thought for contemporary educational debates. The essays are written by scholars located in different parts of the world, a number of whom are well known internationally for their contributions to Gramscian scholarship and/or educational research. The collection deals with a broad range of topics, including schooling, adult education in general, popular education, workers' education, cultural studies, critical pedagogy, multicultural education, and the role of intellectuals in contemporary society.

Originally published in 1982, this book discusses the role of adult education in social and community action. In particular it presents a critical assessment of 'community education' and the theories of Illich, Freire and Gramsci and it proves that there is a radical adult education tradition in the USA, Europe and North America which can offer many insights into the contemporary debate about the role of adult learning. The material is based on a decade of practical involvement in community action and education in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, where - despite deep political and religious divisions - community action has united Catholics and Protestants in a common resolve.

This volume provides evidence for the argument of a central place of pedagogy in the interpretation of Gramsci’s political theory. Gramsci’s view that ‘every relationship of hegemony is necessarily a pedagogical relationship’ makes it imperative to dismiss narrow and formal interpretations of his educational theories as applying to schooling only. This book argues that what is required rather is an inquiry into the Italian thinker’s broad conceptualisation of pedagogy, which he thought of as a quintessential political activity, central to understanding and transforming society. Preceded by a broad introduction that positions Gramsci in his context and in the literature, the essays in this book critically revisit the many passages of the Prison Notebooks and pre-prison writings where Gramsci addresses the nexus between politics and pedagogy. Some essays apply those concepts to specific contexts. The book for the first time brings to the attention of an English-speaking audience voices from the current historiography in Italy and Latin America. We are forced at regular intervals to consider how Gramsci might still be useful, in particular national territories, in an international context. How can we carry on with pessimism of the intelligence, but find some basis for optimism of the will? From the foreword of Anne Showstack Sassoon, Visiting Professor of Politics at the Department of Politics at Birbeck, University of London

Revolutionary Social Transformation focuses on the visions and analysis culled from the writings of Karl Marx, Paulo Freire, and Antonio Gramsci. Marx's theory of critical praxis and his dialectical conceptualization of capitalism are discussed together with Freire's and Gramsci's ideas. The author suggests that these are necessary ingredients for authentic social transformation as well as a basis for rekindling hope for a veritable democratic future. The author employs both a language of critique and a language of possibility to argue that the process of social transformation must be inherently educational. Social transformation begins in prefigurative, preparatory projects and continues even after the creation of a new social formation. She also argues that Marx's materialist theory of consciousness—his theory of critical praxis—informs the thinking of both Freire and Gramsci. The ideas of Freire and Gramsci together with Marx's dialectical conceptualization of capitalism provide essential ingredients for the type of critical theory of educational praxis necessary for authentic social transformation. These ingredients also indicate how local transformative efforts can be linked to the global project for social transformation and ultimately the ending of all oppression.