Habermas and Education: A Comprehensive Overview of the Influence of Habermas in Educational Literature

Abstract

Jürgen Habermas is a dominant figure in social theory. His work addresses the whole of society, not merely one aspect of it. As a result of this comprehensiveness, his work is used internationally in philosophy, political science, sociology, and education. This article reviews specific aspects of his work that are used in the English language educational literature. I made a comprehensive survey of English language articles that cite Habermas from January 1972 to June 1987 in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI). The focus of my review was on: (a) identifying those aspects of Habermas’s work that have implications for education and (b) analyzing those implications and the applications of them to educational topics and issues.