Yale professor Harold Bloom has concluded that cultural guilt has resulted in a 30-year intellectual decline in which politics has come to dominate U.S. poetry. Four leading African-American poets comment critically on Bloom's conclusions. (SLD)

In addition to discussing many scholarly issues at its first meeting, the new Historical Society examined its own reasons for existence, including an interest in reinvigorating intellectual debate on history; reintegrating into the profession historians who have been pushed to the sidelines; and dissatisfaction with two major existing history…

Adult literacy education can contribute to the political change process in Scotland by shifting from a narrow functional approach to a more critical one. The critical approach recognizes vernacular literacies and focuses on developing competence in diverse literacies and on identifying the contexts in which they should be used. (SK)

Discusses political realities that have research, scholarship, and action consequences for the field of black studies. This includes political economy, ideology, and black studies for a new century and its interconnectedness to the other issue, centering gender and interrogating the theory and practice of black women's studies in black studies.…

State legislators are increasingly determining how school sports are conducted. Following Texas's lead, several states, including Ohio and Florida, now require students to earn passing grades or lose playing and practicing opportunities on school sport teams. Kentucky's governor signed a bill imposing stricter penalties on those threatening…

Interviews with 55 British and 40 Australian community development practitioners identified common phases experienced under New Right governments: retreat/isolation, adaptation/defense, and rebuilding. Britain's experiences suggest that community development practice is resilient, but reliance on government funding may restrain activism. (Contains…

Since the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, the European Union (EU) has supported lifelong learning policies and reform of the training systems of member states. However, the fundamental role of the EU as a reference point for development of national vocational policy has not been sufficiently recognized and acted upon. (SK)

Key areas that have influenced the growth in prison education include the rise of public and community colleges, the liberal arts curriculum, and implementation of federal funding systems such as the Pell Grant program. These same areas, especially the ban on inmate use of Pell Grants, may have influenced its recent constriction as well. (Contains…

Compares developments in lifelong learning in the 1990s, especially its emergence on government policy agendas, with its origins in the 1960s-1970s. Shows that the lifelong learning rhetoric about educational opportunities has become a justification for reducing public resources, creating new inequities. (Contains 43 references.) (SK)

Planning is a social activity in which educators negotiate personal and organizational interests in constructing programs. Four concepts encompass a planning model: power, interests, negotiation, and responsibility. (SK)

Summarizing the case studies and critique in this issue, the authors conclude that planners must (1) learn to negotiate power and interests responsibly because their actions validate whose interests matter; (2) anticipate sources of support and opposition; (3) determine power relationships; and (4) know to whom they are responsible. (SK)

Considers two dimensions of changes in former Soviet Union countries: (1) obstacles to transformations away from strong state domination; and (2) contrasting approaches in public administration education to facilitate democratic development in these countries. (JOW)

Examines three cases in which changed political or other circumstances caused the Cooperative Extension Service to change its way of providing local leaders with accountability information. Suggests the establishment of ongoing accountability systems to ensure organizational protection when political or other situational changes occur. (Author/JOW)

Investigated whether Mexican foreign-born immigrants who immigrated to the United States for economic reasons naturalized less often than Cubans who immigrated for political reasons. Data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, Latino Sample, indicated that while more Mexicans plan to apply or have applied for naturalization, proportionately more…

The Landless People's Movement in Brazil seeks agrarian reform and social justice. Its adult education, leadership, and technical training programs use principles of popular education. Its strengths are a radical political culture, open-ended educational inquiry, and linking of education to a tangible benefit: land reform. (SK)