Lifelong Learning as Social Need and as Policy Discourse

Lifelong learning is a key concept in EU policy documents not only on education, but also on economic competitiveness and social cohesion. The discourse on lifelong learning has been strongly criticised by educational researchers, who document that it often reflects narrow notions of learning and neoliberal ideology. However, the concept of lifelong learning is basically sound and promising, because people in the contemporary world increasingly have and express needs to learn in order to handle the social transformations, opportunities and risks they experience. Drawing on Habermas' conceptualisation of systemic and communicative processes in modern society this chapter discusses the social need for learning and its policy implications. The development of lifelong learning provision under the conditions of globalisation and Europeanisation is traced and serious limitations in the policies of EU and other international actors are pointed out. The concept of lifelong learning needs to reinterpreted in order to connect to the social need for learning.