Responding and Responsibility: Governance, Resilience, and Vulnerability to Authoritarian Politics in Austrian Adult Education
This article examines how authoritarian politics - especially right-wing and far-right agendas - can shape adult education in Austria, and which features of the sector's governance create resilience or vulnerability. Building on constitutional ambiguity, institutional plurality, and increasingly project-based funding, the analysis focuses on soft steering through discourses, symbols, and steering by questions and arguments. Resilience stems from provider diversity, loose coupling in multi-level governance, and the strategic agency of organisations and researchers. Key vulnerabilities include financial dependence, indicator-driven steering, symbolic reframing, and the rapid creation of parallel institutions. Using the Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF) as an illustrative case, the article shows how integration provision can be instrumentalised via mandatory courses, centralised tendering, and standardised teaching materials. The conclusion outlines policy options to safeguard democratic adult education and, finally, also discusses the role of adult education scholars in these processes.
Beiträge
Liberal Democracies under Pressure and Consequences for Adult Education. An Introduction to the Topic
An Introduction to the Topic
Open Access
Open Access
Open Access
Open Access
Open Access
weitere Infos
Schlögl, Peter (2026). Responding and Responsibility: Governance, Resilience, and Vulnerability to Authoritarian Politics in Austrian Adult Education. In: Internationales Jahrbuch der Erwachsenenbildung 2026. Liberal Democracies under Pressure and Consequences for Adult Education, S. 71-87. Bielefeld: wbv Publikation. https://doi.org/10.3278/I80123W005
Bibliografische Angaben
- Reihe: Internationales Jahrbuch der Erwachsenenbildung
- Band: 49
- Auflage: 1
- Erscheinungsdatum: 28.08.2026
- Umfang: 17 Seiten
- Artikelnr: I80123W005
- ISBN E-Paper: 9783763980123
- DOI (E-Paper-Teilbeitrag): 10.3278/I80123W005
- Imprint: wbv Publikation
- Sprache: Englisch
- Lizenzhinweis:
- Autor(en): Peter Schlögl