The privatizing agenda of corporate globalization is being abetted by such institutions as the World Bank. Educators are being told to accept its inevitability. However, adult educators can assert alternative values and help build a healthy civic society. (SK)

The author initially describes several seminal and interconnected departures from the old social order which are currently happening and which are creating a new and indeed unprecedented setting for the educational process, thereby raising a series of never-before-encountered challenges for the educators. He then details how society is being…

A central argument of this essay suggests that the truth of globalization is little known to the body politic as it is enmeshed in the dynamics of capitalist accumulation, avarice, and despotism. This project hopes to first locate, and then unmask the realities of globalization, warts and all. Gaining some knowledge of globalization, the…

Britain's decision to commercialize the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service has implications for extension programs in other countries. If programs now offered were commercialized, extension would no longer be an agency responsive to the public interest as a whole but would be driven by interests of paying clients. (JOW)

The Australian state of Victoria has adopted a privatization approach to human services that is destroying the infrastructure of community services. Without a dynamic community services core, it is difficult for social citizenship to flourish. (SK)

During its 1993 session, the Michigan legislature enacted two statutes for the organization and operation of public school academies, Michigan's name for charter schools. A circuit court judge declared the charter schools were unconstitutional. In response, the legislature amended its original enactment. Traces the short but curious history of…

The author discusses some of the ways in which certain elements of conservative modernization have had an impact on education at multiple levels. He points to the growth of commodifying logics and the audit culture that accompanies them. In the process, he highlights a number of dangers currently being faced. However, he urges us not to assume…

Peter Blake reports on new legislations and reforms in Virginia that provide colleges and universities more operational and administrative autonomy in return for their commitment to public goals for higher education. He traces the history and context of privatization in Virgina from 1988. During this time, the legislatively mandated Virginia…

Although the theory of the market is well understood, little is known about how for-profit schools will operate in practice. This paper considers why for-profit schooling has developed during the current period and not before (e.g., entrepreneurs must compete against heavily subsidized public schools, which limits their ability to charge prices…

Describes the Ontario provincial government's "Lands for Life" program, which will allocate 46 million hectares of public lands to four uses: intensive forestry, multiple use, tourism, and protected areas. Expresses skepticism about government statements by juxtaposing the rhetoric with the record, with regard to environmental…

In her zeal to advocate greater public school choice, Raywid criticizes the ASCD's "Public Schools of Choice" report unfairly. Raywid denigrates the importance of balancing public and private interests, claims that choice demands a form of rigorous social experimentation unsupported by research, and overlooks the report's positive guidance for…

Summarizes the main points of this special issue on outsourcing in higher education by drawing together and relating conclusions, and speculating on the future of external partnerships. Also identifies some external partnerships and their specific nature. (GCP)

This paper provides a detailed examination of "contracting," a type of privatization, and is intended to clarify the issues surrounding decisions to privatize public services. Privatization introduces competition among market participants as a means of generating revenue, spurring development of an industry, and/or improving the quality of…

The entrepreneur behind the Edison Project and Channel One shares his observations about the unfairness of public school critics, the "tyranny" of operational demands, and the promise of national school companies for underemployed teachers and research and development ventures. Praising public schools for being receptive to new concepts,…

Notes how the British Army's Officer Corps, based on elitism and financial standing, brought the British Empire to its knees. Argues that privatization--a for-profit market system to ration out education--would have a similar effect. Suggests that charter schools (with considerable autonomy but still held accountable by the chain of command) are…