Civil Society and the public sphere: Habermas's recent learning theory

Abstract

This article argues that Jürgen Habermas's commitment to a deliberative form of democracy, the foundational importance of the lifeworld for healthy human existence, and civil society as the pre-eminent learning domain can help the global adult education movement to understand its potentialities and limitations in a rapidly changing world. The article explicates Habermas's recent articulation of civil society and the public sphere in Between Facts and Norms. We turn to Habermas to learn more about civil society in order to construct an adequate theoretical framework towards the achievement of a learning society that encourages active citizenship, nurtures people-centred work and fosters public spaces that engage a significant minority of citizens in deliberative processes committed to the common weal.