Imagining the futures for lifelong education under the “promissory legitimacy” of international organisations

On 24 January 2023, the world celebrated the 5 International Day of Education proclaimed by the United Nations to highlight the importance of education for the development of individuals and societies, as well as promoting access to quality education for all. This year’s celebration was particularly significant as it came just a few months after the United Nations convened the Transforming Education Summit, in September 2022. The summit was called in response to a global crisis in education – ‘one of equity and inclusion, quality, and relevance’ (United Nations, n.d.., 2 para.). During times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it becomes increasingly clear that anticipating and rethinking possible futures of education is a human and institutional necessity. However, the question arises as to whether it is only during times of crisis that we imagine or anticipate possible futures for education, when considering contemporary media coverage of everyday affairs but also recent academic literature concerned with the politics of the future by International Organizations (IOs) (Global Society, 36, 2022) or Reimagining adult education and lifelong learning for all (Benavot et al., 2022). Leading scholars like Dewey, Mezirow or Jarvis have written extensively on the necessity of reflecting on ‘imaginative futures’ as a crucial aspect for lifelong education. In a previous editorial we questioned IOs as ‘competent’ agents to shape lifelong education’s future (Hodge et al., 2021). In this editorial we further explore how futures of education are imagined, for what purpose and by whom – using UNESCO’s work as an example – to then consider the implications for lifelong education scholarship. In tracing the ‘history of the future’, Adam (2010) argues that such comprehension has passed through developmental phases based first on fate (i.e. a realm of the supernatural outside a person’s control), then on fortune (i.e. a realm of potential personal action and wealth creation), until today recognition that,