ABSTRACT
Adult educators outside of North America have largely ignored the contribution of Habermas’s work for a critical pedagogy of adult learning. The authors seek to explain and explore his social and political theory for developing a morally justified critique for emancipatory practice in adult education. This imperative arises not simply because of the incursion of the ‘system world’ into the ‘lifeworld’ but also to transform the former with values of care, ethics and democratic principles. The impact of Habermas can be seen in adult education which focuses on civil society as a site of struggle for decolonizing the lifeworld. Habermas has also had an impact on adult educators like Jack Mezirow who have been particularly influenced by his analysis and search for a discursive democracy and, because of their integral connections, a learning society too.
