Social and historical factors in the development of Swedish adult education

Sweden has one of the best-developed and most generously resourced systems of adult education in the world. Part of the richness is a strong tradition built up over the last four centuries. This tradition has endowed Sweden with a very positive view towards lifelong education as well as an enviable infrastructure in terms of schools and associations devoted to adult education. There are several social and historical factors that have given the adult education movement its impetus in Sweden. This paper traces those factors and makes occasional reference to comparable forces in Australia’s history of adult education