Repressive Tolerance and the Practice of Adult Education

Herbert Marcuse’s concept of repressive tolerance argues that behind the justification of tolerance lies the possibility of ideological domination. Tolerance allows intolerable practices to go unchallenged and flattens discussion to assume all viewpoints have equal validity. When alternative, dissenting views are inserted into the curriculum dominant ideology means they are always positioned as the ‘other’ in relation to the mainstream. This article takes Marcuse’s concept and applies it to a number of familiar adult educational practices and concerns. It considers how Marcuse’s contrasting notion of liberating tolerance might be manifest in adult education. Repressive Tolerance and the Practice of Adult Education