*** MICHAEL KUHN (Ed.): New Society Models for a New Millennium. The Learning Society in Europe and Beyond. Peter Lang (29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - E-mail: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). 2007, 636 p, €49-90 ISBN 978-0-8204-7499-1.
Recent research in social science has tended to focus on education and knowledgewhile European leaders have been putting education high on the political agenda. The European Union even uses the idea of a knowledge-based society to define itself against the global backdrop. This new idea clearly has the wind in its sails and most public figures see it as the new panacea to solve all problems, whether in terms of the economy, social affairs or even the legal system. Nevertheless, while there has been a mushrooming of sociological research into this new paradigm, ever more voices are being raised to challenge the idea. At the end of the day, the concept is no more than that, a concept. It is not a social theory thought up and put together by sociologists, but rather a political ideology which germinated in the minds of a handful of economists and has gradually taken root in EU policies, ending up as the indispensable spearhead. Research backed by the EU (in the 6th Framework Programme of Research and Development in particular) has a common thread running through it, the 'information society', and this all feeds in to the bulging literature on a subject which simply did not exist a few years ago and about which little is known in actual fact (so little is known, in fact, that researchers call it the 'black hole').
Does society as a whole have to adjust to this 'black hole'? Most research into the subject spends less time trying to define and understand what a 'knowledge-based society' is exactly than trying to find ways of bringing it about. Since most researchers have adapted their thinking to fit political agendas and in so doing have left their critical spirit behind in order to be politically correct, most of the fundamental questions are not even raised any more… This does not, however, apply to absolutely all sociologists. Some remain, like the ones brought together by Michael Kuhn of Bremen University in Germany, who ask who exactly introduced the political agenda that we are all supposed to prepare ourselves for, and who also ask where the agenda is leading us. These sociologists hail from Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia. They explain in the pages of this book how they view the new information society and how it had been received in their own country.
The book comprises three sections and 24 chapters in total. After the introduction, the first chapter looks at the knowledge-based society and the idea of lifelong learning in the countries of the 'old' Europe. We learn, for example, that these concepts have long been known in England, which sees knowledge as conferring competitive advantage on the world stage since production is hugely mobile, which means that it is the inhabitants of a country, and the inhabitants' knowledge, that will be decisive. In France on the other hand, research tends to come unstuck due to the terminology, most of which is Anglo-Saxon and has no satisfactory equivalent in the language of Molière, which helps to make the underlying concepts hard to understand. The knowledge-based society therefore remains a genuine black hole in France, where people do not know what it is or what it should be… The second part of the book looks at so-called transition societies in Europe. Experiencing radical change, these societies are trying to find their way in a new reality and are trying to distance themselves from the past, which is why they are paying particular attention to these new ideas. Despite the fact that political discourse uses the term 'knowledge-based society' to spice up all dishes in these countries, that does not mean that people there clearly understand what it means… The last part of the book explores how countries outside the EU react to the concept. Looking at South Africa, Brazil, Japan and Arab states, the book shows how the knowledge-based society and knowledge-based economies are of great interest to many countries in the world, although each addresses the issue in a different way. They all have one thing in common, however, which is seeing the promotion of education as the final means of gaining economic advantage in an ever more global world. Running through the book is the authors' hope that this rush for knowledge will produce men and women who are able to achieve previously unknown levels of excellence rather than simply producing raw material to enable multinational companies to generate even greater profits …
Nuno Duarte
*** LINDEN WEST, PETER ALHEIT, ANDERS SIIG ANDERSEN, BARBARA MERRILL (Eds.): Using Biographical and Life History Approaches in the Study of Adult and Lifelong Learning: European Perspectives. Peter Lang (see above). "European Studies in Lifelong Learning and Adult Learning Research", No. 2. 2007, 310 pp, €48-10. ISBN 978-3-631-56286-4.
The European Society of Research into Adult Education provides a new outlook on education and training in this book. Social sciences have a greater tendency these days to produce 'useful' results which can be directly applied in schools and education institutes. Decision-makers and other education professionals want clear results that are as unequivocal as possible on this or that pedagogical method, with tangible and where possible, statistical, demonstrations of cause and effect. The weak point in this learning method is that it tends to marginalise the human factor despite its fundamental importance in education. Learning approaches may perfectly suit one person but be a total failure for another… In reaction to this, a new biographical and life history approach is emerging, which puts human beings and their unpredictability and interaction with their environment centre stage. Such approaches argue that it is above all the quality of human relations which decides on the outcome of any learning process. This book looks at such approaches and considers studies carried out in various EU member states. Following the introduction and an explanation of how the biographical approach works and how it developped, the third chapter introduces the idea from a theoretical viewpoint, illustrating its advantages over the instrumentalist approach. The book then looks at the relationship between education and social class. In the past, social standing had a huge influence on the education an individual received. Although this is tending to die out, it appears that it has been coming back in recent years. Another chapter looks at learning at work. The author indicates that the workplace has become a battlefield between men and women because of men's assumptions about their ability to learn new concepts, which generates anxiety in many men and leads to confrontation and sometimes even to irrational behaviour. The sixth chapter studies the role of feminism in teaching and training circles, examining how feminist battles have helped educate and change mentalities around the world. Various other issues are also addressed, like the connection between the working environment and the 'educational history' of employees in the civil service, therapy seen as a learning process, and the shock experienced by an immigrant having to speak a new language, new attitudes in a new culture, etc. The authors believe that learning is not limited to the classroom - it is a continual process that starts when a human being takes their first breath and ends with their last breath. Since living means learning, the idea of learning cannot be separated off from the concept of biography…
(NDu)
*** Revue d'Allemagne. Société d'Etudes Allemandes (CNRS, bâtiment 40, 23 rue du Loess, BP 20, F-67037 Strasbourg, France, Cedex 02. Tel. (33-3) 88107316 - Fax: 88106482 - E-mail: christiane.weeda@misha.u-strasbg.fr). January-March 2007, No. 1, 138 pp, €16. Annual subscription €52 (France, €56 (elsewhere).
The German education system is periodically challenged and reviewed across the board, from pre-school to school level, the different types of secondary education institutes and higher education. This issue of Revue d'Allemagne draws up an inventory of the pros and cons of the German education system, particularly in the light of the review of federalism which began in the spring of last year. Monique Mombert studies the crisis through reference to Georg Picht's book "Die Deutsche Bildungskatastrophe" published in 1964, which gave rise to reforms introduced in the 1970s. The revolution brought about by the Bologna Process is also studied.
(JPe)
*** SUSANNE EVA PATZKE: Bedeutung von Appellativa der Nationszugehörigkeit am Beispiel "Deutscher" und "Ausländer". Eine empirisch-semantische Untersuchung. Peter Lang (see above). "Danzger Beiträge zur Germlanistik" series, No. 19. 2006, 306 pp, €48-10. ISBN 3-631-55604-7.
The author of this study is a linguist working in the field of German language teaching for speakers of other languages. In this book she tries to explain a number of issues surrounding the use of criteria to determine which nationality somebody belongs to, taking the example of use of the concepts of 'German' and 'foreigner'. The first problem encountered in trying to review a book in a different language from the one it is written in is the fact one is forced to use concepts which do not have exactly the same meaning in the languages in question. There are many subtleties in the German language which are not easy to translate, particularly in a field where knowledge does not simply concern objects but also describes the human characteristics of social and political groups, and this is why the theoretical questions addressed in the first part of the book are so important. The first section comprises an in-depth semantic and linguistic analysis inspired from the work of Hilary Putnam, showing that concepts used in this domain are not purely objective but are laden with values and emotion which give them a double dimension of intent and specific extension to the linguistic community and culture in which they are used. The author goes on to analyse the political culture in which a nation defines itself, pointing out that Germany has inherited an ethnic concept of the nation (unlike France, for example) and that the concepts 'German' and 'foreigner' have therefore acquired their own connotation, connected with the idea of a 'people' which is so present in German political culture. The author then compares and contrasts concepts in ordinary language with the legal concepts that have arisen in laws on nationality, including citizenship of a state. The book stresses that the concepts are getting vaguer and the categories 'German' and its negative 'foreigner' are defined legally by abstract ideas. The book then makes a long empirical analysis illustrating these arguments and providing many examples of use of the concepts in literature and the media.
The utility of this book should be noted at a time when many issues are arising in the growing awareness of national identity and the communities that make up a nation, due to growing immigration and the European project which helps mix and match and bring different cultural identities together. It is clear that the unification of Europe is transforming traditional political culture and that various taboos, emotions and values which contributed to the formation of nations in Europe in the past are being challenged. This very serious research will help readers understand these changes.
(GFr)
*** DARIO CASTIGLIONE, CHRIS LONGMAN (Eds.): The Language Question in Europe and Diverse Societies. Political, Legal and Social Perspectives. Hart Publishing (16C Worcester Place, Oxford, OX1 2JW, UK. Tel: (44-1865) 517530 - Fax: 510710 - E-mail: mail@hartpub.co.uk - Internet: http://www.hartpub.co.uk ). "Oñati International Series in Law and Society" series. 2007, 285 pp, £22. ISBN 978-1-84113-667-7.
The powers of the European Union have expanded over time but its language system has not changed much, possibly trapped in its original sin of declaring that the official language of each of the EU's member states would also be an official language within the European institutions, as Miquel Strubell explains. Whether this is true or not, it is clear that the multiplication of official languages is both a practical problem and, in a way, a subject of reflection in this European Union of diversity. This phenomenon of multilingualism or diglossia is not limited to the EU, and globalisation has tended to amplify the phenomenon, as Chris Longman explains, quoting Crystal, noting that there never was a time when so many nations had such a need to talk to one another. There never was a time when so many people so wanted to travel to so many places, he adds. It is against this backdrop that the cross-disciplinary essays in this book, most of which focus on the EU, set out the foundations of the language question in Europe and study its implications in terms of equality, identity and power. The book also suggests ways that the EU, a union of peoples (in the plural), could manage this multilingualism.
(FRo)
*** Documents. Revue du dialogue franco-allemand. Bureau International de Liaison et de Documentation (50 rue de Laborde, F-75008 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 43879040 - Fax: 42935094 - E-mail: revue@bild-documents.org - Internet: http://www.revuedocuments.com ). 2007, No. 4, 80 pp, €7-80. Annual subscription: €39.
This issue of the review of Franco-German dialogue tackles subjects like the fall in trade unionism, an assessment of the most recent German Presidency and looking behind the scenes in the Franco-German friendship.
(MT)