In the shadow of triumphalist and hubristic capitalism, many adherents to critical pedagogy promote "democracy" as a kind of anti-capitalist challenge to inequality, oppression and exploitation. However, American culture has gone global, immersing the world in the received wisdom of a variety of liberalisms or in the reaction formations of…

We review our involvement in social justice movements and projects over the past half-century that led to our understanding of importance of democracy. We contrast our understanding based on our extensive involvement in schools, our record of accomplishments from national and state legislation. e.g., "New Careers" projects, task forces…

In this article, the author talks about power, pleasure and community in a learning society. He argues that the resistance against the grand narratives or universal truths of this age is best achieved through the cultivation and development of local narratives and truths which are subject to continuous debate and critical reflection within a…

If ever there was a right time to write about Learning Disability Services in the context of a transformation, this is it. I am not writing about the subject as a single entity, divorced from the bigger picture of what is happening to society and the world about us. Whatever "transforming" is going on for people with learning disability, it is…

Argues that feminism has already encountered some of the more striking aspects of the postmodern condition, including lack of faith in the explanatory power of historical master narratives and the crisis of theoretical universality. Discusses how, in this sense, feminism anticipates the agenda of postmodernism at several points and critically…

Concepts of discrimination or judgment in modernism are problematized by postmodernism. The modernist search for timeless universal principles of practice must be replaced by postmodernist striving for situational subjectivity, based on critical self-awareness and tolerance of others' beliefs. (Author/SK)

Discusses the politics of social science research and locates the development of transformative research within debates about postmodernism. Provides an example of a transformative research project highlighting the relationship between power and knowledge. (SK)

Claims the story of the death of the author carries with it an edifying mission: (1) it gets rid of the mystifying figure of the author; and (2) it points the way toward rehabilitating the notion of agency. Supports Walter Benjamin's position that argues a need to socialize the author as producer. (NH)

The pressures of economic competition affect the narratives of adult educators. Three interrelated themes provide insights into the contemporary condition of adult educators: the turn to "textuality," changes in the economy and organization of work, and debates over postmodern identity. (SK)

Comments on Mark Blum's essay on the history of the interpretation of history. Applauds Blum's attempt but draws out problems associated with his argument's grounding in the philosophy of Edmund Husserl and John Toews. Concludes by discussing a new historicism and a need for a postmodern turn in historical interpretation. (DSK)

Argues that the link between educational curricula and society as a whole has become critically uncertain, largely due to a number of factors related to the post-modern view of the world. Contends that this situation calls for a fundamental re-thinking of the link between curriculum and society, based on a more flexible and pluralistic approach.…

In Jungian terms, society is shifting from modern "Promethean" to a postmodern "Hermetic" culture, in which the narrowness of adult education ideology is disabling. Instead of polarities, ideology and methodology should be pluralistic, combining the qualities of a number of mythological archetypes. (SK)

Educators and other cultural workers need a new political and pedagogical language for addressing the changing contexts and issues facing a world in which capital draws upon an unprecedented convergence of resources--cultural, political, economic, scientific, military, and technological--to exercise powerful and diverse forms of hegemony. In this…

Contemporary youth are major players in the postmodern adventure because it is they who will enter the future and further shape the world to come. For youth today, change is the name of the game and they are forced to adapt to a rapidly mutating and crisis-ridden world characterized by novel information, computer and genetic technologies; a…

Reviews postmodern conditions and the tenets of critical postmodern theory. Identifies implications for vocational education, including renewed purpose, integrated curriculum, creation of new knowledge, and regenerated goals for democratic schools. (SK)