Mapping, Reflecting, and Exploring Education for the Labour Movement: A Thematic Literature Review

Overview & Synopsis

This article offers a comprehensive thematic literature review on labour education, exploring the major contributions as well as some of the limits of this scholarship and future directions for researchers. Based on an analysis of 180 English-language publications from the 1960s until today, we find several general trends that we analyse as four broad themes in this literature: the politics of labour education; labour education in, through, and with formal educational institutions; the pedagogy of labour education; and labour education, globalisation, and transnational solidarity. Identifying some of the gaps in the existing scholarship, we propose several future directions for research on labour education: connecting social movement scholarship and the labour education literature; labour education programmes that centre intersectionality, namely themes such as gender justice, anti-racism, and disability; labour education through solidarity with other social movements, such as the environmental movement; and labour education programmes led by different types of labour organisations beyond trade unions. Overall, this article contributes to our understanding of how labour education can strengthen the labour movement, reduce inequality, and promote decent work for all.