System and lifeworld, and the conditions of learning in late modernity

Abstract

This article explores changes in the learning conditions available to learners in these times of ‘late modernity’. The article has five parts. The first focuses on the functonal integration of schooling to political-legal and economic systems. The aim of this section is to describe a general phenomenon evident in schooling (as in other realms of organised social life), which has significant consequences in terms of the way we understand the contemporary conditions under which learners learn. The second section outlines the theoretical resources for understanding this integration – drawing upon Habermas's theory of communicative action (in particular the theory of system and lifeworld and the critique of ‘the philosophy of the subject’). This exposition may provide some readers with an introduction to some useful theoretical resources for thinking about education