ERIC Number: EJ1137753
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0260-1370
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Available Date: N/A
Decoding the Neoliberal Subjectivity in Self-Helping Adult Learners
Lee, Moosung
International Journal of Lifelong Education, v36 n1-2 p145-163 2017
This article explores and explains the subjectivity of self-helping adult learners, as depicted in contemporary, best-selling self-help books. It interrogates how those self-help texts embody particular features of self-helping subjectivity by appropriating neoliberalist perspectives on self and the world. It illuminates four salient features of the neoliberal subjectivity of self-helping adult learners: (1) rational and responsible self-management, (2) excessive self-positivity, (3) voluntary self-exploitation and (4) the loosely connected selves without solidarity. These four features of neoliberal subjectivity are intrinsically entangled with one another. Implications of the assemblage of neoliberal subjectivity for research and practice in adult learning are also discussed.
Descriptors: Neoliberalism, Bias, Self Help Programs, Help Seeking, Books, Adult Learning, Self Management, Self Esteem, Lifelong Learning, Time Management, Burnout, Individual Development, Social Networks
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Adult Education
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Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
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