Introduction to the symposium on critical adult education in food movements: learning for transformation in and beyond food movements—the why, where, how and the what next?

Abstract

Many social movements, peasant organisations and radical educators have been deeply engaged in education for food system transformation for a relatively long time. In contrast, scholarly work on the possible role of pedagogy in radically transforming food systems is more recent. But this field of inquiry is growing as new insights for theory and practice are emerging—especially in the agroecology literature. This symposium of Agriculture and Human Values is timely because it focuses on new research on the importance of critical education for the spread of food sovereignty and agroecology to more people and places. It pays particular attention to the important role that learning, education and pedagogy can play in social transformation for food sovereignty and justice—a tradition that we refer to broadly as “Learning for Transformation”. It draws together 7 articles that offer new critical insights about why, where, and how learning for transformation is being implemented,—and what next. In this editorial introduction, we reflect on how the different educational processes and methods presented here point to a range of possibilities and challenges for social movements.