A Fine Balance in truth and fiction: exploring globalization’s impacts on community and implications for adult learning in Rohinton Mistry’s novel and related literature

Abstract

Globalization continues to interest researchers and practitioners as it unfolds around us. This article contributes to the analysis of globalization’s discourse, objectives and outcomes, by exploring the impact of globalization on community and its implications for adult learning. Using selected themes from a work of fiction to frame this exploration, the article asserts that the study of fiction can bolster critical thinking and learning. Excerpts from Rohinton Mistry’s novel, A Fine Balance, initiate an investigation of globalization’s rhetoric of promise and connectedness, and introduce a review of related research and other non‐fictional writings. The incorporation of fiction into this analysis attempts to demonstrate that a complex, often technical topic such as globalization can be articulated in a way that is accessible to a broad community of formal and informal adult learners. The article concludes that globalization disrupts community and social capital, despite the increasing recognition of their role in supporting lifelong learning.