Lifelong Learning and the Production of Neurotic Citizens

In this open access book, the authors argue that the policies, practices and politics of lifelong learning result in a range of unintended – and often unwanted – consequences. The book demonstrates that while the multiple promises of lifelong learning (LLL) remain unfulfilled, what is clear is that the policy discourses of LLL embody a particular view of the subject (the citizen), who is invariably the object of its attention. The book interrogates the kind of subject LLL seeks to cultivate and shows how this subject is aptly characterised as neurotic. Based on the analytical examination of a great deal of empirical data collected in Finland, which is often regarded as the poster child of educational reform towards a knowledge economy, the book offers novel insights into lifelong learning by analysing its unintended consequences, such as feelings of inadequacy, difficulties in coping, anxieties and unfulfilled promises generated by the political demands for continuous self-development. It addresses the structures and mechanisms as well as the cultural presuppositions that result in those unintended consequences. The book contains critical social and cultural analyses that examine the unintended consequences of lifelong learning from macro, meso and micro perspectives.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Research Council of Finland.