Zielgruppen in der Praxis. Erwachsenenbildung im Gefüge sozialer Milieus

The article criticises target group constructions that are based on external socio-structural and socio-demographic characteristics and proposes the "social milieu" approach as an underlying concept. It is argued that categorisations of groups, such as older people/younger people, educated/uneducated, workers/employees etc., are based on general social classifications and differentiations and refer to the functional and power structure in society. However, a deciding factor is the extent to which such groups formed by external characteristics also become relevant for the individual action, i.e. how the external order enters into the subject. This theoretical gap can be closed by Pierre Bourdieu’s habitus theory. On the one hand, a milieu concept based on this theory goes beyond formally and externally formed target groups by stressing that every objectively described stage of life is interpreted and processed differently according to the milieu. On the other hand, in this way target groups are not only regarded as a colourful diversity, but also as a structure that is characterised by inequality, power and rule, to which pedagogy has to position itself. Instead of the target group-oriented marketing strategies that are in demand today, the originally critical and emancipative intention of the term “target group” should not be lost sight of, or so the author’s plea.