An analysis of the contribution of critical postmodernism to the development of an emancipatory adult educatio

As defined in this study, emancipatory adult education is a form of adult education whose mission is the promotion of individual empowerment and a radical transformation of oppressive institutions. In recent years the theory and practice of emancipatory adult education have been critiqued not only by those who disagree with its political orientation but also by educational theorists who subscribe to postmodernist perspectives. These theorists assert that the philosophical assumptions underlying all forms of adult education, including emancipatory adult education, are fundamentally flawed.;Among postmodernists in education, however, there are those who support the liberatory goals of emancipatory adult education even while they contend that the philosophical assumptions underlying these goals are misconceived. They seek to replace "modernist" assumptions about knowledge, morality, human beings, and society with postmodernist philosophical perspectives as the basis for emancipatory adult education. The most prominent exponents of such a "critical postmodernism" are Henry Giroux, Peter McLaren, and Stanley Aronowitz.;In this study, I examine whether the critical postmodernists have developed a new, more viable framework for emancipatory adult education. Have Giroux, McLaren, and Aronowitz shown that the basic philosophical assumptions underlying emancipatory adult education are fundamentally misconceived? Have they provided a more viable set of ontological, epistemological, and ethico-political perspectives? Given my involvement in labor education, the study also examines the following questions bearing on the practice of adult education. Does a critical postmodernist perspective help us to develop more participatory labor education programs? Are there specific pedagogical techniques proposed by critical postmodernists that can be used in emancipatory labor education?;Based on a critical analysis of their writings, I conclude that, while Giroux, McLaren, and Aronowitz raise important issues for emancipatory adult educators, the postmodernist philosophical perspectives underlying their critical postmodernism do not provide a more viable set of epistemological, ontological, and axiological perspectives. Rather, postmodernist notions such as anti-essentialism and anti-foundationalism prevent us from developing the kind of complex, nuanced understanding of human beings and society that we need in order to enrich the theory and practice of emancipatory adult education.