Abstract
The author argues that a theory of popular education is emerging, the elements of which include (1) an emphasis on the relationship of education and learning to collective and emancipatory struggle, (2) an analytical framework which enables connections to be made between learning and education on the one hand, and analysis of political economy, micro-politics, ideology, and discourse on the other. The theory is tested through a case study of workers' informal learning during the restructuring of an Australian open-cut mine.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, Frank. 1975. Unearthing Seeds of Fire. The Idea of Highlander. Winston-Salem: John Blair.
Alvarez, Sonia. 1990. Engendering Democracy in Brazil. Women' Movements in Transition Politics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Anyon, Jean. 1983. Intersections of Gender and Class: Accommodation and Resistance by Working Class and Affluent Females to Contradictory Sex-role Ideologies. In: S. Walker and L. Barton, eds., Gender, Class and Education. New York: Falmer.
Austin-Broos, D. 1987. Clifford Geertz: Culture, Sociology and Historicism. In: D. Austin-Broos, ed., Creating Culture: Profiles in the Study of Culture (141–159). Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Ball, S. ed. 1990. Foucault and Education. London: Routledge.
Boughton, B. 1998. The Education Work of the Communist Party of Australia in the Context of Adult Education. Melbourne: Ph. D. Thesis, Graduate School of Education, La Trobe University.
Braverman, H. 1974. Labor and Monopoly Capital. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Carr, W. and Kemmis, S. 1986. Becoming Critical: Education, Knowledge and Action Research. Geelong: Deakin University Press.
Curtain, R. et al. 1991. Award Restructuring & Workplace Reform: An Appraisal of Progress Based Upon 3 Case Studies. Melbourne: National Key Centre for Industrial Relations.
Eagleton, T. 1989. Raymond Williams: Critical Perspectives. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Emery, Fred. 1991a. From Bear Mountain to Workplace Australia. In: Designing the Future: Workplace Reform in Australia. Conference Papers (103–118). Melbourne: Workplace Australia.
Emery, Fred. 1991b. The Light on the Hill. In: Designing the Future: Workplace Reform in Australia. Conference Papers (191–201). Melbourne: Workplace Australia.
Foley, G. 1991. Terania Creek: Learning in a Green Campaign. Australian Journal of Adult & Community Education 31(3): 160–176.
Foley, G. 1993. The Neighbourhood House: Site of Struggle, Site of Learning. Britiish Journal of Sociology of Education 14(1): 21–37.
Foley, G. 1998, forthcoming. Learning in Social Action: A Contribution to Understanding Informal Learning. London: Zed Books.
Freedman, R. ed. 1962. Marx on Economics. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Giroux, H. 1984. Ideology, Agency and the Process of Schooling. In: Len Barton and Stephen Walker, eds., Social Crisis and Educational Research (306–334). Canberra: Croom Helm.
Harvey, D. 1989. The Condition of Post-Modernity. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Horton, M., Kohl, J. and Kohl, H. 1990. The Long Haul. New York: Doubleday.
Katznelson, I. 1981. City Trenches. New York: Pantheon.
Kemmis, S. and Fitzclarence, L. 1986. Curriculum Theorizing: Beyond Reproduction Theory. Geelong: Deakin University Press.
Lingard, B., Knight, J. and Porter, P. eds. 1991. Schooling Reform in Hard Times. London: Falmer Press.
Lears, T. J. 1985. The Concept of Cultural Hegemony. The American Historical Review 90(3): 567–593.
Marsick, V. ed. 1987. Learning in the Workplace. Canberra: Croom Helm.
Marsick, V. and Watkins, K. 1991. Informal and Incidental Learning in the Workplace. London: Routledge.
Metcalfe, A. 1988. For Freedom and Dignity: Historical Agency and Class Structures in the Coalfields of NSW. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Milner, A. 1991. Contemporary Cultural Theory: An Introduction. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Patton, P. 1987. Michel Foucault. In: D. Austin-Broos, ed., Creating Culture: Profiles in the Study of Culture (226–242). Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Schacht, R. 1971. Alienation. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Schied, F. 1995. Learning in Social Context. Workers and Adult Education in Nineteenth Century Chicago. DeKalb, Ill.: LEPS Press.
Shilling, C. 1992. Reconceptualising Structure and Agency in the Sociology of Education: Structuration Theory and Schooling. British Journal of Sociology of Education 13(2): 69–87.
Skeggs, B. 1991. Challenging Masculinity and Using Sexuality. British Journal of Sociology of Education.
Skinner, Q. 1985. The Return of Grand Theory in the Social Sciences. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Thompson, E. P. 1968. The Making of the English Working Class. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Thompson, J. 1983. Learning Liberation. London: Croom-Helm.
Thompson, J. 1997. Words in Edgeways: Radical Learning for Social Change. Leicester: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education.
Walker, S. and Barton, L. 1983. Gender, Class and Education: A Personal View. In: S. Walker and L. Barton. eds., Gender, Class and Education. New York: Falmer.
Ward, R. 1958. The Australian Legend. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Webb, S. 1990. Counter-arguments: An Ethnographic Look at “Women and Class”. In: L. Stanley, ed., Feminist Praxis. London: Routledge.
Welton, M. 1987. Knowledge for the People. Toronto: OISE Press.
Welton, M. 1991. Dangerous Knowledge: Canadian Workers' Education in the Decades of Discord. Studies in the Education of Adults 23(1): 24–40.
Welton, M. 1993a. In Search of the Object: Historiography and Adult Education. Studies in Continuing Education 15(2): 133–148.
Welton, M. 1993b. Memories in the time of troubles: the Liberatory Moments History Project. Convergence 26(4): 3–7.
Wexler, P. 1987. Social Analysis of Education. London: Routledge.
Williams, R. 1973. Base and Superstructure in Marxist Cultural Theory. New Left Review 82: 3–16.
Wood, E. 1986. The Retreat from Class: A New “True” Socialism. London: Verson.
Wood, E. 1995. Democracy Against Capitalism: Renewing Historical Materialism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Foley, G. Clearing the Theoretical Ground: Elements in a Theory of Popular Education. International Review of Education 44, 139–153 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003110307735
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003110307735