Stromquist, Nelly P. and Monkman, Karen. (Editors). (2000). Globalization and Education: Integration and Contestation Across Cultures. 2nd Edition. Reviewed by Donald B. Holsinger, Brigham Young University

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.