Since the 1970ies, the concept of lifelong learning has gained importance within the academic and political discourse on education. It has evolved as a central idea of international education politics. Research on lifelong learning has mainly been conducted in educational science, especially in the field of adult education. There is a variety of research approaches including biography research as well as discource analysis which focus on education policy documents. This dissertation follows a

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... fferent approach, using a sociology of knowledge approach to discourse analysis to examine notions of lifelong learning in media communication. The main research question is: How is lifelong learning discursively constructed within media society? The research interest focuses on the public media discourse on lifelong learning which produces collective ideas (symbolic interpretive schemes) about learning throughout life. The analysis of media coverage on lifelong learning in Austria comprises newspaper articles from 2000 to 2013. It aims at the reconstruction of discursive themes and control mechanisms which contribute to the evolvement and dissemination of lifelong learning as a general body of knowledge. Regarding the thematic structure of the discourse, five categories have been reconstructed: adaptation, participation, positioning, governance and systematization. Following the framing approach, so-called media frames have been applied to all discursive categories. With regard to the dissemination of lifelong learning, four control meachanisms have been reconstructed: uncertainty, appeal, stimulation, and award. Based on the thematic categories and the control mechanisms, two dominant discursive formations of lifelong learning have been reconstructed: While the compensatory model is predominantly defined by the notion of deficiency, the competitory model is characterized by the need to stay competitive. On the basis of the research results and the academic and policy discourse, an emancipatory model of lifelong learning [...]