Globalizations and Education

Spanning an extraordinary 30-year career, this book collects seminal essays by critical theorist Carlos Alberto Torres. Torres is among the foremost scholars devoted to interpreting the work of Paulo Freire and has done much over the years to raise the visibility of Freire’s contribution to educational theory. In addition, he has helped to establish the discipline of the political sociology of education. His work on Latin American education has made substantial contributions to the fields of comparative and international education. All the strands of his thinking, along with his commitment to employing scholarship for social change, are evident in this important collection.

These valuable essays:

• Present a comprehensive introduction, in one volume, to Torres’ contributions to sociology of education, multiculturalism, and Freirian theory.
• Offer a timely discussion of questions of power, influence, and authority to explain key decision making and educational planning.
• Demonstrate the ongoing necessity for scholarship as a political act in education reform around the globe.

Carlos Alberto Torres is Professor of Social Sciences and Comparative Education and Director of the Paulo Freire Institute at UCLA.

“This book demonstrates the continually expanding range and depth of Carlos Torres' rich, vital, unique and indispensable contribution to the sociology of education.”
—Roger Dale, Centre for Globalisation, Education, and Society, University of Bristol

“The spirit that animates critical work can never be totally subjected to rationalizing logics and processes. Try as the powerful might, it will not be extinguished—and it certainly remains alive in this book.”
—From the Foreword by Michael W. Apple

“Globalizations and Education is an imperative read in a world where the deep structures of domination and inequality threaten daily to extinguish our struggles for democratic schooling, human rights, and social justice.”
—Antonia Darder, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

"Carlos Alberto Torres offers a brilliant exploration of the many meanings and boundaries of the term, ‘critical theory.’ He offers fresh insights regarding the political dynamics that give shape to an education for freedom. This is a must-read.”
—Angela Valenzuela, University of Texas at Austin