ABSTRACT
A quarte r o f a centur y ha s gon e b y since U N E S C O publ i she d the vis ionary
global geopolit ica l condit ions hav e radicall y altered . W e liv e i n differen t
times.
Broad ly speaking , we ca n trace the reason s for thi s globa l restructurin g t o
the effect s o f th e neo-conservativ e ascendanc y o n th e on e hand , an d th e v i r -
tual collaps e o f stat e capitalis t c o m m a n d economie s ( 'socialis m a s i t ha s
already existed' ) o n th e other . Thes e historicall y significan t eventualitie s
were no t anticipate d b y th e Utopia n Faur e Repor t an d s imila r vis ionar y
( B o t k i n et a l . 1979 ) an d The L e a r n i n g Society ( H u s e n 1974) , w h i c h embrace d
l i fe long learnin g a s a gu id in g pr inc ip le for globa l development . A n d i n th e
meant ime, l i fe lon g learning , or l i fe lon g educat io n (th e term s ar e use d inter -
changeably), ha s becom e littl e more tha n a catchphrase w i t h i n th e conven -
t ional discours e o n education .
