The basic aim of this special issue is to focus on the profound change of tendency in education that is taking place at both the national and interna tional level. At a time when education and lifelong learning are increasingly merging into one process, it is important to examine the ways in which edu cational policies and practices are evolving. Consequently, we invited a variety of contributors, both men and women, coming from different regions and encompassing both research and practice, to identify significant phenomena and trends that are indicative of the ways in which systems of education are responding to new social and cultural demands. We asked our contributors to show how educational reality in different countries is no longer confined within the temporal and spatial limits of institutional education, to indicate how models of educational practice are changing, to examine the extent to which the traditional cycles of human life are shifting their boundaries, and to describe how these changes are mani festing themselves in different national contexts in both South and North. We also asked our authors to pose questions raised by this educational revolution. We have included 17 contributions, some of the authors analysing par ticular national situations, others drawing questions and observations from their own experiences or taking a searching look at education from the perspective of a practical involvement in social iSl>ues or from a background of research into popular arts and traditions.

The popular education and adult literacy movements in Chile have historically represented competing paths toward a literate society: one born and nurtured through bitter nineteenth-century labor struggles, the other a compensatory effort by the modern state to limit the political potential of literacy. Robert Austin's book explores the contest between the state and popular education in three paradigmatic Latin American regimes: that of Eduardo Frei Montalva (Christian Democrat, 1964-70), Salvador Allende (Socialist, 1970-73) and Augusto Pinochet (Dictator, 1973-90). Robert Austin's engaging narrative captures the relationship between the Chilean state, formal and non-formal literacy, and popular education, from the demise of liberal capitalism to the consolidation of neoliberalism. This remarkable investigation of the dynamic link between the historical process, literacy, and pedagogy celebrates popular education's victory in securing the inclusion, and subsequent empowerment, of women and ethnic minorities. The State, Literacy, and Popular Education in Chile, 1964-1990 will be of great interest to political scientists, cultural historians, and scholars of education.

In this collection of essays, a group of linguists and social scientists examines specific instances of language use, and centers its analysis around the speakers/writers and their contributions to message-exchange within a setting. These prominent scholars create a basis for a bold exploration of homosexual dialogue as an independently developed linguistic construction, by arguing in support of distinctively constructed lesbian and gay languages.

The contributors to this volume discuss current policies and issues in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and the United States, as they explore the nature of the relationship among education, poverty, and inequality. The book provides evidence linking school participation, the quality of education for poor children in the Americas, and the impact of education policies to promote social justice.