This article examines the emergence of different patterns of lifelong education and at the same time gives an overall view of how the various contributions to this special issue add to our understanding of the process of change that is taking place in the educational arena. The article is structured around three main themes. First, it addresses the changing relationship between initial education, adult education and the general learning environments. As the author shows, these three elements form a complex and interacting web of influences, which can be fully understood only as a totality. Secondly, under the heading of “The Dialectics at work behind and in education,” the article discusses such factors as the changing patterns of employment and non-working time and the disparity between social demand for education and the institutional response. Thirdly, the author deals with the economy of lifelong learning and the changing role of the state in education. Overall, the author presents a picture of profound and widespread transition, in which many different types of learning society are emerging.