Adult education scholarship has been racialized through the lens of Eurocentric theory and research. Theoretical paradigms such as Africentrism struggle to gain academic legitimacy as discourses of transformative learning, critical thinking and self-direction--all grounded in the European Enlightenment tradition of the individual pursuit of…

Examines two theoretical frameworks: (1) second-generation critical theory, in which African-Americans reframe criticality as awareness of the struggle against racism; and (2) Africentrism, which reconceptualizes criticality as an alternative discourse. Explores their compatibility, their challenge to the concept of criticality in adult education,…