ABSTRACT
W e hav e just conc lude d a three year study projec t calle d 'adul t education fo r
social responsibil i ty : reconc i l in g the i r reconci lable? ' (Wildemeersc h et al
1998) I n it , we hav e argue d tha t a major funct io n for adult education today i s
the reinforcemen t an d facilitatio n o f pub l i c debate and action w i th respec t t o
different social , pol i t ica l an d economi c scenario s fo r th e future . W e invi te d
colleagues t o investigat e h o w fa r adul t educat io n ca n contribut e t o t u n i n g
local an d persona l concern s t o a sense o f collectiv e an d globa l responsibi l i ty
for th e ' c o m m o n good'. We took into account th e de-inst i tut ional izat io n an d
privatizat ion o f adul t education , an d th e concomitan t p lural izat io n an d
diversification o f learnin g need s an d desires . B u t ou r m a i n quest io n wa s
whether th e fragmentatio n an d th e self-actualizin g life-styles tha t ar e th e
ha l lmark o f pos tmodern culture , sti l l a l lo w educationa l scenario s fo r socia l
responsibil i ty.
