First Call for Papers The 5th conference of the ESREA research Network Between Global and Local (Istanbul, Turkey)

Positioning and Conceptualizing Adult Education and Learning within Local Development 28th-30th April 2011, Boğaziçi University, İstanbul, Turkey The fifth seminar of the ESREA research network “Between global and local: Adult learning and development” will focus on changing paradigms in the field of adult education and learning, and will discuss how adult education and learning can continue contributing to local development in the global era. Adult education and learning has been conceptualized and positioned in line with the demands of neo-liberal economy and policies particularly since the 1970s. In this view of things, adult education and learning becomes one of the means to acquire a qualified, flexible and competitive labour force. Such approaches based on human capital theory and organizational effectiveness subordinate the individual and the society to the demands of the market economy. However, the learning needs of adults cannot be limited to vocational skills compatible with the requirements of the market. Since the foundation of adult education as a field, there have been radical, humanistic and other perspectives that offer different ways of thinking about adult education and learning that have valuable implications for encompassing diverse needs of the individual and society; and for contributing to local development and empowerment. Within the scope of this seminar, we would like to hear the voices of such perspectives focusing on adult education and learning in different contexts, and spaces.