ABSTRACT
W h e n Plat o in the Republic sentence d hi s Gua rd i an class to a life o f learning ,
his projec t concerne d vocationa l t ra inin g fo r th e fe w w h o , becaus e the y
w o u l d lear n t o identif y and implemen t G o o d , w o u l d ju s t ly rul e th e many .
L i f e long learnin g a s a m o d e r n populis t f o r m o f adul t educat io n w o r k e d
towards th e opposite , offerin g th e man y enhance d understanding s tha t
w o u l d d isa l lo w rul e b y th e fe w (democracy) . O f late thi s comfor t in g aca -
demic binar y has com e undone . T h e grea t emancipatory projec t o f m o d e r n
education (Lyotar d 1984), elitist or popular , ha s collapsed , the ofte n w i l l i n g
246 I N T E R N A T I O N A L PERSPECTIVE S O N L I F E L O NG L E A R N I N G
