Includes bibliographies and index.

Contents Part 1: Perspectives - historical and theoretical: "really useful knowledge" 1790-1850: memories for education in the 1980s, Richard Johnson; the long search for the working class: socialism and the education of adults, 1850-1930, Paul F. Armstrong; domesticity and its discontents: feminism and adult education in past time 1870-1920, Sallie Westwood et al; their contributions to education for socialism, Paula Allman; adult education in radical US social and ethnic movements: from case studies to typology to explanation, Rolland G. Paulston et al. Part 2 Contemporary initiatives; community education and community action, Tom Lovett; adult education and the peace movement, Budd L. Hall; adult education and the Women's Movement, Jane L. Thompson; education and the environmental movement, Brian Martin; workers' education and the crisis of British trade unionism, John Field; adult education with unemployed people, Richard Taylor and Kevin Ward; worker ownership: an opportunity to control the production of knowledge, Frank Adams; adult education and the Third World: an African perspective, Retta Alemayehu.

Presents a broad historical and theoretical perspective on radical adult education. It also explores a range of contemporary issues and initiatives with examples of practice from a number of countries.