ABSTRACT
Policy and practice in England receives much more attention than policy and practice elsewhere, simply because there is not enough space for more extensive description of other education systems. The roles that governments take in education in the twenty-first century are very different from the roles they took in the nineteenth century. The Internet is awash with diatribes against governments 'throwing money at education'. Flat or falling productivity in education is read as prima facie evidence of waste. The form of globalisation and its accompanying rhetoric has positioned the purpose of education as securing the conditions for productive employment: developing skills and aptitudes for an internationalised labour market and creating stable contexts for low-risk production. Relationships between work, welfare and citizenship are being transformed through information technology, globalisation and demography. International relations are strained by shifts in power, ideology and migration. The chapter also presents an overview of key concepts discussesd in this book.
