ABSTRACT
Life long learnin g has recentl y re-emerged a s a hot topi c on the po l i c y agendas
o f inter-governmenta l organizations , mult inat iona l enterprises an d nationa l
governments. Sinc e th e earl y 1990 s th e Europea n U n i o n ( E U ) has d e m o n -
strated g rowing interest i n l i felong learning and i t is n ow the cor e pr inc ip l e of
E U educatio n an d t ra ining policies. T h is chapter offer s a cr i t ique o f E U p o l i -
cies o n l i felon g learnin g i n term s o f sociologica l theorie s o f globalizat ion,
reflexive modern iza t io n an d ris k society. It is argued tha t EU po l i cy priorit ie s
fundamentally ignor e th e dynamic s o f socia l and cultura l (re-) p roduc t io n i n
post-industrial societie s at the structural , organizationa l and ind iv idua l levels .
H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n ( C E C 1991a), w h i l e other document s deal t w i t h vocational
