ABSTRACT
The creation of a just and civilised society appears to be an almost utopian dream. Even the creation of a truly democratic society, Held’s ‘direct democracy’ with his assertion that this is the ‘end of politics’ is utopian. Indeed, it is most significant that at the time of New Right domination, there has been a resurgence in utopian theorising (Gorz, 1985; Kumar 1987, 1991; Levitas, 1990 inter alia) reflecting a ‘desire for a better way of being (Levitas, 1990:181), so that it is necessary to relate this type of thinking to some of the ideas of radical adult education and interest groups generally. The first two parts of this chapter explore some of the differing ideas about utopia while the final section relates these ideas to adult education thought, especially to the writings of Horton and Freire.
