This review has been accessed  times since July 12, 2001
Stromquist, Nelly P. and Monkman, Karen. (Editors). (2000).
Globalization and Education: Integration and Contestation
Across Cultures. 2nd Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman
& Littlefield Publishing.
384 pp.
$70 (Cloth) ISBN: 0847699188
$24.95 (Paper) ISBN: 0847699196
Reviewed by Donald B. Holsinger
Brigham Young University
July 13, 2001
Most of us have heard the word "globalization"
become an increasingly familiar part of the descriptive
lexicon of the present-day world. We may even believe that
we understand the term while privately hiding from public
exposure a certain insecurity about the term and its
implications for our own field of labor or study. For such
people, and I suspect they are many, Globalization and
Education: Integration and Contestation Across Cultures
is a welcome addition.
The book is divided into three parts: Part 1 seeks to
define the concept "globalization" and does so
from a number of practical and philosophical perspectives
such as education curriculum (what is taught), pedagogy (how
the curriculum is delivered in the classroom), public policy
(e.g. financing, distributing, assessing), economic
integration, world peace, agendas of development agencies,
political radicalism, cultural influences and the debate
between rich and poor nations. For the reader hoping to gain
quick insight into the multifaceted concept, Part 1 is
highly recommended as both enjoyable and informative
reading. You may not emerge an expert but you will have
achieved the ability to talk the "expert talk"
with fluency in the jargon now current among international
and comparative educators.
Part 2 will help newcomer and globalization scholar
alike deepen and extend understanding through the
application of the concept to the institutions and practices
of higher, vocational and adult education. Globalization is
portrayed as a set of processes predisposing to a
standardized, Anglo-American model by which higher education
is molded into "neoliberal economic reforms and
managerial styles." "Competitive" (leading to
economic development) versus "cooperative"
globalization (leading to participatory democracy) is
introduced although a full explanation for why these must be
antithetical is not provided.
Application of the concepts, definitions, and real-life
education dimensions of globalization to specific country
contexts is provided in Part 3. For the reader who
asks, "but does this ever really happen?", or,
"where can I find a concrete illustration of this
point?" this final third of the book will give a
helpful answer. For example, we are treated to illustrations
of the influence of globalization on access to higher
education in Anglophone Caribbean countries, education
reform in Japanese primary schools, education
decentralization in Lesotho, and curricular reform in
Mexico. By including chapters dealing with these topics the
editors have sought to take what is at times a rather obtuse
abstraction and apply it to concrete institutions in
understandable social, cultural and economic contexts, thus
rendering "globalization" a more accessible and
precise intellectual tool by which students and scholars of
education can understand and explain changes going on all
around them.
How well do they succeed in this task? Quite well. There are
some especially insightful chapters here–and not
minimizing the contribution of any of the contributors I
would draw attention to Martin Carnoy's, "Globalization
and Education Reform." While taking issue with the view
that decentralization adequately summarizes the impact of
globalization on education, Carnoy advances his own set of
three changes in education systems commonly found in
developing countries and, he maintains, illustrative of
"globalization's true relationship to educational
change." This short readable chapter is a clearly
argued, easily understandable summary of several likely
influences of globalization on education. If there was no
other reason to buy the book than have access to this piece
it is well worth the price. Of course there are many other
reasons as well making "Globalization and
Education" an exceptionally worthwhile addition to
current literature in the field of international and
comparative education.
About the Reviewer
Donald B. Holsinger, Professor, Educational Leadership and
Foundations and Director, David M. Kennedy Center for
International Studies, Brigham Young University. Dr. Holsinger's
interests are in
international development and education, secondary education
in developing countries.
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