This special issue calls us to examine the dictatorship of capital. The rule of capital in the labor/capital relation has always been a form of dictatorship. Therefore, we need to consider the particularities of this relation as they manifest today. In recent decades, the nature of the labor/capital relation, or capitalism, has generally been describe via the term globalization. As adult educators, we need theory to help explain the nature of and paths forward from the devastating social, political, and cultural impacts of globalization or the contemporary form of the dictatorship of capital. Moreover, when we consider the field beyond academia and include social movement-based adult educators, it is important to understand that not only do we need theory, but some of the best theory we need is developed by social movement-based adult educators. This cross-disciplinary theoretical inquiry presents a political economic framework for understanding adult education and globalization that draws on academic and social movement-based theory. It then contrasts this theory with the dominant learning for earning paradigm within adult education in order to consider alternative paths for the future of adult education.