2: UNESCO's Lifelong Learning Policy Discourse: An Enduring Social Democratic Liberalist Project of Global Educational Development

This chapter begins by tracing the history of the concept of “learning throughout life” as a policy idea from UNESCO in the 1960s. The chapter then provides the sociopolitical background that led to the official emergence of lifelong learning as a policy idea in UNESCO's Faure Report (1972), followed by the policy discussions on lifelong learning within UNESCO during the 1970s and 1980s. Next, it illuminates how UNESCO has endeavored to regain its discursive dominance in lifelong learning policy since the 1990s, as the idea of lifelong learning re-emerged at the core of the educational policy of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries as both a means of providing educational opportunities for individuals and a national strategy for competing in the globalized economy. In this way, the chapter aims to demonstrate how UNESCO's lifelong learning policy discourses have had a unique impact on international discussions over the last six decades through its continuous commitment to extending social democratic liberalist discourses of global educational development. Finally, the implications of the chapter's historical account for the existing literature are discussed.