Reassessing Subjectivity, Criticality, and Inclusivity: Marcuse’s Challenge to Adult Education

Abstract

For his influence on Habermas alone, Marcuse’s work deserves attention by adult educators. If Habermas is a central theoretical reference point for our field, then knowledge of a precursor’s ideas that Habermas found so provocative can bring us to a fuller understanding of Habermas’s own work. But this is not the chief reason for reading Marcuse. In his own right, Marcuse articulates an analysis of subjectivity, criticality, and inclusivity that has powerful implications for adult education. Although Marcuse did not write as an adult educator or make explicit reference to the field, his concerns frequently intersect with those of adult educators concerned with how adults learn their own liberation.