Oltre l'eurocentrismo : riflessioni e prospettive sulla pedagogia critica e l'educazione degli adulti nel contesto del Mediterraneo

This article is intended to provide an understanding of the role of adult education and critical pedagogy in the Mediterranean context. It starts off with a brief reflection on the history and present situation in this region. Embracing a perspective that is not eurocentric but anti-colonialist and grounded in participatory democracy, the article is organised around three areas: Northern Mediterranean, East Mediterranean and Southern Mediterranean. These categories are used for simply heuristic purposes; we acknowledge that these are also eurocentric constructs. The article therefore maps out, in an introductory manner, a specific terrain of experiences. It is also one that comprises authors/practitioners connected to the area of adult education.

Both initiatives and the authors to whom we refer provide a significant contribution to the area, specifically from a critical pedagogical perspective. It sheds deeper light on these experiences and theoretical proposals in light of the social and historical complexities in the Mediterranean, throwing into relief the lack of suitability of EU 'one shoe fits all policies' that are often at odds with the specific realties in communities ensconced in different parts of the world. Grounded in a historical and critical analysis, this article argues for a Mediterranean adult education perspective predicated on critical, dialogical and anti-colonial thinking and practices. [Publisher's Text].