Reconsidering the Roots of Transformative Education: Habermas and Mezirow

Jack Mezirow acknowledged the deep influence of the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas (1929–) on the development of transformative learning. We describe some fundamental elements of Mezirow’s and Habermas’ thought, explore their affinities, and argue that Mezirow did not give adequate attention to two important themes in Habermas: the power and value of social movements and the need to reform the overall structure of a society to enable transformative learning. We argue that transformative learning would benefit from a deeper consideration of these topics. Finally, we introduce Civic Studies, a parallel intellectual movement that also owes much to Habermas, and we suggest a convergence.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

1. Akkon University of Applied Human Sciences, Berlin, Germany Saskia Eschenbacher
2. Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA Peter Levine

1. Saskia Eschenbacher