Adult education, deliberative democracy and social re-engagement in Africa

Abstract

While the western powers credit globalization with facilitating development, Africa continues to face challenges such as poverty, low quality education, HIV/AIDS, and ineffective governance. This article provides an overview of African development since independence arguing that the African states shifted from their service-based policy agenda of the 1960s during the boom and bust period in the 1970s and 1980s, experienced the drastic effects of structural adjustments in the 1990s, and are now attempting to pursue an African renaissance agenda. It demonstrates how adult educators can help create deliberative democracy by working with civil society to engage African communities in public discourse and empower the citizenry.