W John Morgan – författare

The specially commissioned essays collected in this volume reflect the full range of Raymond Williams's interests and concentrate not only on the exposition and evaluation of his ideas, but also on how they have influenced teachers, writers, and other thinkers.

Philosophy, Dialogue, and Education is an advanced introduction to nine key European social philosophers: Martin Buber, Mikhail Bakhtin, Lev Vygotsky, Hannah Arendt, Emmanuel Levinas, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Simone Weil, Michael Oakeshott, and Jürgen Habermas. This detailed yet highly readable work positions the socio-political views of each philosopher within a European tradition of dialogical philosophy; and reflects on the continuing theoretical relevance of the work of each to education generally and to critical pedagogy. The discussion in each chapter is informed by materials drawn from various scholarly sources in English and is enriched by materials from other languages, particularly French, German, and Russian. This enhances the comparative European cultural perspective of the book; and connects the work of each philosopher to wider intellectual, political, and social debates. The book will appeal to academics, postgraduates, and researchers working in philosophy, philosophy of education, and in educational, cultural, and social studies more generally. Advanced undergraduate students would also benefit from the book’s discussion of primary sources and the authors’ suggestions for further reading.

Civil Society, Social Change and a New Popular Education in Russia is a detailed account of contemporary issues that draws upon recent survey research conducted by the Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as from secondary published work in both Russian and English. The book explores how social change and developments in civil society are occurring in Russia and the role played by a new popular education. The right to lifelong learning is guaranteed by the Russian state, as it was by the Soviet Union, where formal education, based on communist ideology, emphasised the needs of the state over those of individuals. In practice a wide range of educational needs, many of which relate to coping with changing economic, social and technological circumstances, are being met by non-governmental providers, including commercial companies, self-help groups, and community and neighbourhood clubs. This book discusses how this new popular education is both an example of developing civil society and stimulates its further development. However, as the book points out, it is also part of a growing educational divide, where motivated, articulate people take advantage of new opportunities, while disadvantaged groups such as the unemployed and the rural poor continue to be excluded.

Cultural Cold Wars and UNESCO in the Twentieth Century addresses the now-considerable interest in the concept of cultural cold war as a means of advancing ideologies.The book charts the development of the concept in the twentieth century. Structured in two parts, Part I considers the League of Nations’ idealist attempts at international intellectual cooperation. It discusses also the first cultural cold war with the Communist International’s attempts to advance communism. It also analyses the ideological and cultural appeal of Italian fascism, German national socialism, and Japanese nationalist militarism; and the transition from a wartime alliance to a new cold war. Part II examines the renewal of international intellectual co-operation through the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in the context of a second cultural cold war between the capitalist democracies and the communist bloc. The book shows that UNESCO became a site of this ideological competition and an example of its tensions.Based on original research and a comprehensive review of the literature, including in Russian, German, and French, the book will appeal to academics, postgraduate researchers, advanced undergraduates, and others interested in recent international history and the comparative politics of ideas.

A major transformation of Chinese higher education (HE) has taken place over the past decade – China has reshaped its higher education sector from elite to mass education with the number of graduates having quadrupled to three million a year over six years. China is exceptional among lower income countries in using tertiary education as a development strategy on such a scale, aiming to improve the quality of its graduates, and make HE available to as many of its citizens as possible. This book provides a critical examination the challenges to the development and sustainability of higher education in China: Can its universities move from quantity to quality? How will so many graduates find jobs in line with their expectations? Can Britain and other western countries continue to benefit from China’s education boom? What are the prospects for collaboration in research? This book evaluates the prospects for Chinese and foreign HE providers, regulators and other stakeholders. It introduces the key changes in China’s HE programme since the Opening-Up policy in 1978 and analyses the achievements and the challenges over the subsequent three decades. Furthermore, it sheds light on new reforms that are likely to take place in the future, particularly as a result of the ongoing international financial crisis.

Civil Society, Social Change and a New Popular Education in Russia is a detailed account of contemporary issues that draws upon recent survey research conducted by the Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as from secondary published work in both Russian and English. The book explores how social change and developments in civil society are occurring in Russia and the role played by a new popular education. The right to lifelong learning is guaranteed by the Russian state, as it was by the Soviet Union, where formal education, based on communist ideology, emphasised the needs of the state over those of individuals. In practice a wide range of educational needs, many of which relate to coping with changing economic, social and technological circumstances, are being met by non-governmental providers, including commercial companies, self-help groups, and community and neighbourhood clubs. This book discusses how this new popular education is both an example of developing civil society and stimulates its further development. However, as the book points out, it is also part of a growing educational divide, where motivated, articulate people take advantage of new opportunities, while disadvantaged groups such as the unemployed and the rural poor continue to be excluded.

In place of a distributive justice perspective which focuses simply on equal access to universities, this book presents a broader understanding of the relationship between Chinese higher education and economic and social change. The necessity for research on the place of universities in contemporary Chinese society may be seen from current debates about and policy towards issues of educational inequality at Chinese universities. Many questions arise as a consequence: What are the limitations of neo-liberalism in higher education policy and what are the alternatives? How has the Chinese government met the challenges of educational inequality, and what lessons may be learned from its recent initiatives? How may higher education enhance social justice in Chinese society given economic, social, and cultural inequality? What may be learned from the experience of Macau, Hong Kong, and of Taiwan in terms of achieving social justice in Chinese universities? These questions are considered by a group of leading scholars from both inside and outside China.

A major transformation of Chinese higher education (HE) has taken place over the past decade – China has reshaped its higher education sector from elite to mass education with the number of graduates having quadrupled to three million a year over six years. China is exceptional among lower income countries in using tertiary education as a development strategy on such a scale, aiming to improve the quality of its graduates, and make HE available to as many of its citizens as possible. This book provides a critical examination the challenges to the development and sustainability of higher education in China: Can its universities move from quantity to quality? How will so many graduates find jobs in line with their expectations? Can Britain and other western countries continue to benefit from China’s education boom? What are the prospects for collaboration in research? This book evaluates the prospects for Chinese and foreign HE providers, regulators and other stakeholders. It introduces the key changes in China’s HE programme since the Opening-Up policy in 1978 and analyses the achievements and the challenges over the subsequent three decades. Furthermore, it sheds light on new reforms that are likely to take place in the future, particularly as a result of the ongoing international financial crisis.

Martin Buber (1878-1965) is considered one of the 20th century’s greatest thinkers and his contributions to philosophy, theology and education are testimony to this. His thought is founded on the idea that people are capable of two kinds of relations, namely I-Thou and I-It, emphasising the centrality of dialogue in all spheres of human life. For this reason, Buber is considered by many to be the philosopher of dialogue par excellence. After Buber’s death the appreciation of his considerable legacy to the various disciplines in which he had worked became rather muted, but was never completely forgotten. There is now a renewed and growing interest in Buber’s thought, especially in his philosophy of education. This book brings together aspects of Buber’s philosophy and educational practice, and explains their significance for peace dialogue and for conflict resolution, both between individuals and communities. Buber's philosophy of dialogue and views on education are pivotal in demonstrating the personal and social benefits of dialogical education as well as the dangers of non-dialogical education. The book will be valuable reading for academics, researchers and postgraduate students interested in Martin Buber, education, peace dialogue and conflict resolution.

This book presents a broader understanding of the relationship between Chinese higher education and economic and social change. It attempts to fill the unevenness in China's economic and social development and education through initiating a debate about Chinese higher education and social justice.

Cultural Cold Wars and UNESCO in the Twentieth Century addresses the now-considerable interest in the concept of cultural cold war as a means of advancing ideologies.The book charts the development of the concept in the twentieth century. Structured in two parts, Part I considers the League of Nations’ idealist attempts at international intellectual cooperation. It discusses also the first cultural cold war with the Communist International’s attempts to advance communism. It also analyses the ideological and cultural appeal of Italian fascism, German national socialism, and Japanese nationalist militarism; and the transition from a wartime alliance to a new cold war. Part II examines the renewal of international intellectual co-operation through the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in the context of a second cultural cold war between the capitalist democracies and the communist bloc. The book shows that UNESCO became a site of this ideological competition and an example of its tensions.Based on original research and a comprehensive review of the literature, including in Russian, German, and French, the book will appeal to academics, postgraduate researchers, advanced undergraduates, and others interested in recent international history and the comparative politics of ideas.

Martin Buber (1878-1965) is considered one of the 20th century’s greatest thinkers and his contributions to philosophy, theology and education are testimony to this. His thought is founded on the idea that people are capable of two kinds of relations, namely I-Thou and I-It, emphasising the centrality of dialogue in all spheres of human life. For this reason, Buber is considered by many to be the philosopher of dialogue par excellence. After Buber’s death the appreciation of his considerable legacy to the various disciplines in which he had worked became rather muted, but was never completely forgotten. There is now a renewed and growing interest in Buber’s thought, especially in his philosophy of education. This book brings together aspects of Buber’s philosophy and educational practice, and explains their significance for peace dialogue and for conflict resolution, both between individuals and communities. Buber's philosophy of dialogue and views on education are pivotal in demonstrating the personal and social benefits of dialogical education as well as the dangers of non-dialogical education. The book will be valuable reading for academics, researchers and postgraduate students interested in Martin Buber, education, peace dialogue and conflict resolution.

Philosophy, Dialogue, and Education is an advanced introduction to nine key European social philosophers: Martin Buber, Mikhail Bakhtin, Lev Vygotsky, Hannah Arendt, Emmanuel Levinas, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Simone Weil, Michael Oakeshott, and Jürgen Habermas. This detailed yet highly readable work positions the socio-political views of each philosopher within a European tradition of dialogical philosophy; and reflects on the continuing theoretical relevance of the work of each to education generally and to critical pedagogy. The discussion in each chapter is informed by materials drawn from various scholarly sources in English and is enriched by materials from other languages, particularly French, German, and Russian. This enhances the comparative European cultural perspective of the book; and connects the work of each philosopher to wider intellectual, political, and social debates. The book will appeal to academics, postgraduates, and researchers working in philosophy, philosophy of education, and in educational, cultural, and social studies more generally. Advanced undergraduate students would also benefit from the book’s discussion of primary sources and the authors’ suggestions for further reading.

The specially commissioned essays collected in this volume reflect the full range of Raymond Williams's interests and concentrate not only on the exposition and evaluation of his ideas, but also on how they have influenced teachers, writers, and other thinkers.

Asking the perennial question, ‘Who are the Welsh?’, this collection illustrates the history of anthropology in Wales and its distinctive contributions to this debate. Its essays range from the ethnographic insights of Gerald of Wales in the twelfth century, to analyses of the multi-cultural Wales of today. Contributors discuss the legacy of Iorwerth Peate, co-founder of the Welsh Folk Museum of St Fagans (now the National Museum of History), and the schools of research pioneering community studies of Welsh rural life in the second half of the twentieth century. Writings on the changing nature of family relations in deindustrialized settings such as the 1950s ‘new’ town of Cwmbrân and a contemporary Welsh public-housing estate provide new insights, while research on shifting patterns of religious adherence re-examine what has often been seen as a defining characteristic of Welsh society. Case studies on the challenges faced by European immigrants in Wales post Brexit and the Welsh diaspora in Patagonia add a global dimension.The interdisciplinary nature of anthropology as practised in Wales brings both a richness and openness born of collaboration. Revealing both the startling variety and continuity of Welsh life and identity, certain themes consistently emerge: connections with place and the natural world as a way of being Welsh, the complex meanings of language in identity formation and the role of kinship in belonging to the Welsh nation.

Peace and War: Historical, Philosophical, and Anthropological Perspectives is an accessible, higher-level critical discussion of philosophical commentaries on the nature of peace and war.