In the face of neoliberalism and other evil things: Canadian adult education as a social movement

Abstract

This review by Dr. Budd L. Hall examines three works on Canadian adult education and argues that the field is best understood as a social movement rooted in struggles for social justice, democracy, and collective learning. Through a critical discussion of Building on Critical Traditions, Lifelong Learning as Critical Action, and Moving Forward Giving Back, Hall traces a shared concern that adult education, whatever pressure it faces from neoliberalism and professionalization, remains alive in communities, in struggles for Indigenous self-determination, in labour organizing, and in everyday acts of learning for change. The review engages Grace's call for lifelong learning as critical action, Nesbit's framing of the field as a social movement, and Silver's account of Aboriginal adult education in Winnipeg, finding in all three a refusal to reduce learning to credentialing or economic utility. Hall argues that adult education in Canada continues to draw its energy from the margins from communities pushing back against inequality, demanding recognition, and building knowledge on their own terms.