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In this paper a critical feminist theoretical framework is used to explore the challenges of creating democratic learning spaces that will foster active and inclusive citizenship for women. Three democratic considerations are addressed to assess how adult educators can create more inclusive opportunities for lifelong education for women. The first consideration is the need for a careful examination of structural inequalities that create disadvantages for women in pursuing lifelong education. The second consideration is the need to create a broader and more gender inclusive understanding of the scope of lifelong learning possibilities, so that women's learning experiences are not devalued. The third consideration explores how to take up gender as a complex variable within the broader discourse of inclusion. This paper is informed by preliminary results from a current SSHRC (Social Science and Humanities Research Council) study on lifelong learning trajectories for women in Canada and a CCL (Canadian Council on Learning) study on active citizenship for women in Nova Scotia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The (un)reality of open/porous borders is starkly represented/manifested in the experiences of immigrant women in lifelong learning contexts. While globalization effectively destroys some borders, it simultaneously creates new ones. State institutions respond to global reconfigurations of borders at local levels by establishing policies that exclude women from working in their fields unless they participate in re-education programs. At the same time the global competition among states within the discourses of the knowledge economy for attracting 'the best and the brightest' entice women to leave (or the effects of Western imperialism force them to flee) their homes with the promise of economic wellbeing or physical safety. Within this environment, lifelong learning can (dangerously) serve to privilege some forms of learning, knowledge and citizenship while devaluing others. This paper draws on research conducted between 2004 and 2006 in two immigrant service organizations. We explore possibilities for developing policies and practices that redress symbolic and cultural injustices with respect to immigrant women in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]