Impressive strands of research have shown the emergent reality of increasing world-level interconnection in almost every field of social action. As a consequence, theories and models have been developed which are aimed at conceptualising this new reality along the lines of an ‘institutionalised’ World Culture. This offers a new understanding of the worldwide diffusion of specifically modern – i.e. mainly Western – rules, ideologies and organisational patterns, and of attendant harmonisation and standardisation of fields of social action. World Culture theories have not gone unchallenged. Rather, cross-cultural studies have revealed much more complex processes of regional fragmentation and (re-)diversification; of the refraction, appropriation, and hybridisation, through distinct socio-cultural conditioning, of world-level models and ideas; and of the ongoing effectiveness both of structural path-dependencies and of specifically cultural aspects such as collective memories, social meanings, and religious (or ideological) belief systems. Comparative research has thus highlighted an intricate simultaneity of contrary currents: of the increasing world-level interconnection of communication and exchange relations on the one hand, and, on the other, the persistence of context-specific interpretations, translations, and deviation-generating re-contextualisations of world-level forces and challenges. This research provides the theoretical problematique that animates this volume. The chapters explore the conceptual tools and explanatory power of theories and models which do not just oppose or reject World Culture theory, but are instead suited to complementing and differentiating it. The volume offers an enlightening conceptualisation of the intricate interaction of global processes with local agency, and of world-level forces with the self-evolutionary potentials inherent in specific contexts, socio-cultural structures, and distinctive meanings constellations. This book was originally published as a special issue of Comparative Education.

Impressive strands of research have shown the emergent reality of increasing world-level interconnection in almost every field of social action. As a consequence, theories and models have been developed which are aimed at conceptualising this new reality along the lines of an ‘institutionalised’ World Culture. This offers a new understanding of the worldwide diffusion of specifically modern – i.e. mainly Western – rules, ideologies and organisational patterns, and of attendant harmonisation and standardisation of fields of social action. World Culture theories have not gone unchallenged. Rather, cross-cultural studies have revealed much more complex processes of regional fragmentation and (re-)diversification; of the refraction, appropriation, and hybridisation, through distinct socio-cultural conditioning, of world-level models and ideas; and of the ongoing effectiveness both of structural path-dependencies and of specifically cultural aspects such as collective memories, social meanings, and religious (or ideological) belief systems. Comparative research has thus highlighted an intricate simultaneity of contrary currents: of the increasing world-level interconnection of communication and exchange relations on the one hand, and, on the other, the persistence of context-specific interpretations, translations, and deviation-generating re-contextualisations of world-level forces and challenges. This research provides the theoretical problematique that animates this volume. The chapters explore the conceptual tools and explanatory power of theories and models which do not just oppose or reject World Culture theory, but are instead suited to complementing and differentiating it. The volume offers an enlightening conceptualisation of the intricate interaction of global processes with local agency, and of world-level forces with the self-evolutionary potentials inherent in specific contexts, socio-cultural structures, and distinctive meanings constellations. This book was originally published as a special issue of Comparative Education.

The new comparative research in this volume explores the global flow of competence-based education, curricular policy, and frameworks for instructional practice. Taking critical perspectives, the chapters trace the pathways through which educators and policy actors adopted and reshaped competence-based education as promoted by the OECD, the World Bank, and the European Union. The authors ask: What purposes do competence-based educational reforms serve? How are competence-based models internationally deployed and locally modified? What happens as competence-based reforms get re-contextualized and contested in particular cultural, social, and political contexts? In their nuanced examination of these global flows, the authors theorize how competence-based reform strategies variously produce hybridity, silent borrowing, “loud borrowing,” and new social imaginaries. Although entangled with other “hot topics” in educational research —skills and dispositions for citizenship and employment; higher-order and critical thinking; and socio-emotional learning—competence itself has multiple, fluid meanings. The authors dissect this polysemy while documenting the pivotal role of key actors in the development, design, and deployment of reforms in diverse international contexts. Contextualizing Global Flows of Competency-Based Education will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of comparative education, educational research, curriculum studies, sociology, and education leadership and policy.This book was originally published as a special issue of Comparative Education.

Digital methodologies, new forms of data visualization and computer-based learning and assessment are creating new challenges as well as opportunities for scholars in educational research. The World Yearbook of Education 2019 explores this highly relevant topic, opening a new discussion about the various conceptual and methodological challenges and opportunities in contemporary educational research. This volume explores contemporary methods of inquiry, with chapters organized around four topics of enduring interest in this field: impacts, patterns, relations and contexts. The World Yearbook of Education 2019 comprises contributions from internationally renowned scholars exploring novel concepts and methodologies in grappling with contemporary empirical phenomena in educational research. Vital questions such as how we understand the technological developments that are creating new possibilities for and demands on education, and how we make sense of complex cases that cut across multiple nations, are discussed. This newest addition to the prestigious World Yearbook of Education series provides a fascinating read for scholars in the fields of education policy and comparative education. It is not only a useful resource for educational researchers and policy makers examining new trends and emerging issues, but would be of interest to graduate students exploring innovative methodologies, particularly in the study of education and education policy.

`An excellent book. The authors have the rare capacity to handle popular culture and case studies in a theoretically informed manner. Original and well researched′ - Mike Featherstone, Nottingham Trent University Understandings of globalization have been little explored in relation to gender or related concerns such as identity, subjectivity and the body. This book contrasts `the natural′ and `the global′ as interpretive strategies, using approaches from feminist cultural theory. The book begins by introducing the central themes: ideas of the natural; questions of scale and context posed by globalization and their relation to forms of cultural production; the transformation of genealogy; and the emergence of interest in definitions of life and life forms. The authors explores these questions through a number of case studies including Benneton advertising, Jurassic Park, The Body Shop, British Airways, Monsanto and Dolly the Sheep. In order to respecify the `nature, culture and gender′ concerns of two decades of feminist theory, this highly original book reflects, hypothesizes and develops new interpretive possibilities within established feminist analytical frames.

Explores how China's divorce courts have generally done less to protect abused women than to empower and enable their abusers.

This book proposes and unpacks the construct 'Criticism against Northern Hegemony in the scholarly field of Comparative and International Education' as bringing together a number of related strands in the field and as showing a promising future trajectory for the evolution of the field, namely the affirmation of the Global South. This construct captures a significant amount of what leading scholars in the field of Comparative and International Education are currently engaged with. It also expresses a view of both the current epoch of education as well as of the societal contextual imperatives shaping education. Criticism against Northern Hegemony in the field comes to the fore in a number of related strands in the current discourse in the field. This scholarly book originates from the Research Unit of Human Rights Education in Diversity at North-West University, South Africa, where the author is affiliated. The book is grounded in the Creed for Human Rights. From this perspective, the book advocates for a new phase in the historical development of the field, with a focus on advancing the affirmation of the Global South as a central moral foundation. The author envisions that this shift will represent a significant advancement in Comparative and International Education, propelling it to an unprecedented stage of value and importance.