The grand narrative of lifelong learning has emerged as a salvation programme and a strategy for survival to cope with the societal change and the uncertainties of the future. It emphasizes everyone’s ability, need and possibility to learn throughout their lives in different learning contexts. But does lifelong learning create equal learning opportunities for all?

This book examines socially constructed interpretations on who benefit from education and who should be educated and how. It is for all those interested in adult education, sociology of education, social psychological research on educability as well as narrative, life history and feminist studies. It offers a critical view on lifelong learning as well as new insights into scarcely researched general upper secondary school for adults.