Introduction

Abstract

We willingly take counsel from former Czech president and playwright Vaclav Havel’s words on hope, knowing that we are writing this book at a time when our own field of adult education is under assault from a variety of capitalist and neoconservative forces pressuring us to opt for the lowest common denominator and to turn away from the causes of criticality, lifelong learning, and education for freedom. Rather than succumb to these pressures, we have hope that our long term goals of education for life and living can and will be accomplished alongside professional and vocational education. Toiling in the field of critical adult education, and in this case writing about it, embodies our hope for the field and its promise to make a difference.