9781862015791.pbk_Layout 1 07/02/2013 09:33 Page 1 Popular Education, Power and Democracy comm unities • socie arning ty • cult le life chan ure ge Popular Education, Power power l • group dividua econo and Democracy in er democratic so my ng • pow ciety Edited by Ann-Marie Laginder, Henrik Nordvall and Jim Crowther learni development • life • enlig cult hten ure men t change • hege mo ny • ind p iv id o ua l l • it g r i o c u p s Popular education, a distinctive Swedish tradition of lifelong learning, knowle dge • e co no m y • l e a r n i n has always concerned itself with the relationship between learning, g • p o w e so cie ty • r c u lt u r e • power and democracy in society rather than having a purely d e v e l o pment • li individualistic and instrumental approach to learning for employability, people • chang fe • po e • hegemon litic which has dominated policy and practice. y • indiv s knowled idual Through the themes of power and democracy this book examines ge • eco nomy popular education's contribution to enhancing people's lives in p• power democra grou tic • cult communities, reflecting on wider significance, and explores its impact ure ciety • culture developm on the political culture of the state and the cultural politics of society so ent • lif r e powe y • within and outside Sweden, including the USA, Japan, Canada and on gem gro he up • • ge le n a ha rn c in g Tanzania. nge cha d • e er m w o o c r p a • t g ic n i • n r li a f e e l d e re v u e t lo l u p m c About the editors • e n y t t e • i c l i o f s e c e h Ann-Marie Laginder is Associate Professor in Education at Linköping l a p n o e g e p • • r g e r w o u o p p University, Sweden. Edited by NordvallLaginder, and Crowther h e e g g e ed m l o w o n k Henrik Nordvall is Senior Lecturer in Education Studies at Örebro l p u ro University, Sweden. Jim Crowther is Senior Lecturer in Adult and Community Education at the University of Edinburgh. Popular Education, Power and Democracy http://shop.niace.org.uk Edited by Ann-Marie Laginder, http://ebooks.niace.org.uk Henrik Nordvall and Jim Crowther ISBN 978-1-86201-579-1 Popular Education, Power and Democracy Swedish Experiences and Contributions NI027 Popular Education.indd 1 01/02/2013 15:48 NI027 Popular Education.indd 2 01/02/2013 15:48 Popular Education, Power and Democracy Swedish Experiences and Contributions Edited by: Ann-Marie Laginder, Henrik Nordvall and Jim Crowther NI027 Popular Education.indd 3 01/02/2013 15:48 Published by © 2013 National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (England and Wales) 21 De Montfort Street Leicester LE1 7GE Company registration no. 2603322 Charity registration no. 1002775 The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) is an independent charity which promotes adult learning across England and Wales. Through its research, development, publications, events, outreach and advocacy activity, NIACE works to improve the quality and breadth of opportunities available for all adults so they can benefit from learning throughout their lives. You can find NIACE online at www.niace.org.uk The rights of Ann-Marie Laginder, Henrik Nordvall and Jim Crowther to be identified as authors of the editorial material, and of the contributors for their individual chapters, have been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without the written permission of the publishers, save in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Cataloguing in Publications Data A CIP record for this title is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-86201-579-1 (print) ISBN 978-1-86201-580-7 (PDF) ISBN 978-1-86201-581-4 (ePub) ISBN 978-1-86201-582-1 (online) ISBN 978-1-86201-583-8 (Kindle) Cover design by Book Production Services. Designed and typeset by Avon DataSet Ltd, Bidford on Avon, Warwickshire, UK. Printed and bound in the UK. NI027 Popular Education.indd 4 11/02/2013 09:05 Contents Acknowledgements vii Notes on contributors ix Key concepts in Swedish popular education: Translations and explanations xiii Part I: Setting the scene Chapter One Introduction 3 Ann-Marie Laginder, Henrik Nordvall and Jim Crowther Chapter Two Towards lifelong learning for all in Europe: Understanding the fundamental role popular education could play in the European Commission’s strategy 14 Kjell Rubenson Part II: Historical perspectives Chapter Three The idea of democratic bildung: Its transformation in space and time 35 Bernt Gustavsson Chapter Four Popular education and the empowerment of women: A historical perspective 50 Kerstin Rydbeck Chapter Five Folk high schools as educational avant-gardes in Sweden 72 Staffan Larsson NI027 Popular Education.indd 5 01/02/2013 15:48 Part III: Popular education and power Chapter Six Dimensions of power: The influence of study circles 99 Eva Andersson and Ann-Marie Laginder Chapter Seven The global justice movement encounters Swedish popular education 122 Henrik Nordvall Chapter Eight Popular education in the service of integration: Empowerment or internalisation of the dominant cultural ethos? 147 Ali Osman Chapter Nine Practising democracy as an agonistic dialogue: A radical political dimension of popular education 169 Berit Larsson Part IV: Beyond the Swedish context Chapter Ten Folk schools in the United States: A Scandinavian inspiration 191 Sylvia S. Bagley and Val D. Rust Chapter Eleven Rhetoric and implementation: The folk high school tradition and the folk development colleges of Tanzania 214 Alan Rogers Chapter Twelve The influence of the Scandinavian model of popular education and lifelong learning in Japan 238 Yukiko Sawano Chapter Thirteen Reflections on popular education in the UK and Sweden: Changes in the state, public sphere and civil society 259 Jim Crowther Index 275 NI027 Popular Education.indd 6 01/02/2013 15:48 Acknowledgements This book is an initiative of Mimer – The Swedish Network for Research on Popular Education. Mimer, whose secretariat is hosted by Linköping University, is an organisation governed by an interdisciplinary board consisting of leading researchers and popular educators, with the main aim of promoting research on popular education (www.liu.se/mimer). Popular education has become a significant field for educational activities in Sweden – as is portrayed and scrutinised in several of the contributions in this book. Over the years, research related to popular education has grown to become a dynamic field. Studies published in this field of research have, with a few excellent exceptions, been written in Swedish, and thus unfortunately been known only at a national or Nordic level. However, the subjects dealt with in this research are to a great extent universal; they most often deal with the complex struggles of social movements or the many ways in which ordinary people arrange and take part in education on their own premises. In recent years Mimer has decided to strengthen the efforts to break the language barrier which isolates the research debates on these matters from their international counterparts. This is based on the conviction that doing so will benefit not only the Swedish research community, but also make a contribution to scholars and popular educators interested in the Scandinavian tradition of popular education. We have repeatedly been asked by non-Swedish speaking colleagues and popular education enthusiasts to recommend a comprehensive book in English about Swedish popular education. Frustratingly, we have not vii NI027 Popular Education.indd 7 01/02/2013 15:48 Popular Education, Power and Democracy been able to mention any research-based up to date examples. This was the starting point for this anthology, which was initiated by Ann-Marie Laginder, Associate Professor and Director of Mimer, in cooperation with Associate Professor Henrik Nordvall. The title of the book – Popular Education, Power and Democracy – emphasises the universal theme which we think is the most urgent one when it comes to communicating insights from research on the rich tradition of Swedish and Scandinavian popular education. Well-known Swedish researchers within the network and prominent international researchers were invited to contribute with different perspectives on this theme. We soon found out that we needed a coeditor outside Sweden. We were truly pleased when Jim Crowther, Senior Lecturer at Edinburgh University, coordinator of the international Popular Education Network (PEN) accepted the invitation to join us on the editorial group. His critical and constructive contributions to the quality of individual chapters have been crucial. His thorough and extensive experience in editing international anthologies and journals has been of invaluable assistance in the production of the book. Regarding editorial matters we want to thank Pat Brechin, who has done an excellent job in improving the English language in each chapter. We are also grateful for Eleonor Bredlöw’s good work in the final checking of references in each chapter. We want to extend a warm thank you to all the researchers who have contributed to the book. Thank you for all the time and effort you have put into writing these chapters and thus making this book what it is. This unique collection of articles provides a coherent approach to assessing the role of popular education in and beyond Swedish borders and we hope the book will be of interest to academics, students, practitioners and popular education activists worldwide.