Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is a critique and comparison of the nature, structure and provision of University Adult Education (UAE) in England and the USA. The specific development of UAE has been part of the response of the tertiary educational system to the wider socio-economic and political pressures of twentieth century society. In order to explain how and why UAE has developed in the ways that it has, the book considers the relationship between UAE and the wider society. It argues that, in their very different ways, UAE in England and the USA has been characterised increasingly by provision geared towards the already relatively highly educated, and, to a greater extent in recent years than previously, has fallen outside the liberal tradition in terms of both content and approach.