Lalage Bown

Lifelong Learning: Ideas and achievements at the threshold of the twenty-first century

Taking a historical perspective and focusing on Low and Medium Human Development countries, the paper starts with a quotation from a nineteenth-century Scot proposing universal empowerment through education for all citizens and ends with the recognition that at the end of the twentieth century his social justice challenge has not yet been met. The concept of lifelong learning and associated ideas are unpacked and particular applications highlighted, including human rights, literacy and gender. New arenas for lifelong learning are noted, but the general imbalance between the High Human Development countries and the rest of the world is under scored. At the same time, lessons in learning from the majority world for the High Development countries are suggested, including development-related learning and popular participation.

The nature and role of development studies in present-day Britain

In recent years, we have had to become acutely aware in Britain of external pressures on not only development studies, but the social sciences at large and indeed the whole framework for intellectual interchange. We have to maintain the position of our disciplines in a context of both skepticism and mistrust by political decisionmakers, so that those of us working in higher education are becoming used to the analogy of our current position with that of the monasteries just before King Henry VIII “privatized” them. If George Orwell were alive in the post-1984 world, I doubt if he could say: “The stripe-trousered ones will rule, but so long as they are forced to maintain an intelligentsia, the intelligentsia will have a certain amount of autonomy.” The present ethos is one in which “stripe-trousered ones” (and, I suspect, bluecollared ones too) see little need to maintain an intelligentsia. Hence the responsibility for an association such as the Development Studies Association (DSA) to defend the importance of its particular intellectual activity in the face of doubt. This was one of the reasons for the time and effort given by some DSA members to take advantage of the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) 1985 offer to support a workshop on the relevance of development studies to the study of change in contemporary Britain (see World Development, Vol. 15, No. 4, April 1987). The responsibility seems to me to be both a political and an intellectual one. The President, Council and members of the Development Studies Association have to keep vigilance in quasi-political arenas if our field of study is to survive. At the same time our best cure for survival is made by the quality of our work. But there are fellow academics who dispute that quality and some elements in their criticism must cause us at least some discomfort. Deepak Lal’s attempt to discredit development economics, in part on the ground that it is “paternalist,” cannot, in my estimation, simply be ignored. It is a grave and serious charge. I believe, however, that we do have answers and that we need to give them. If the current context is in one way unfavorable, it might be argued that in another sense there are opportunities to be grasped. If we look back on the last few years and see the continuing squeeze on the social sciences, coupled with a conscious philistinism among decisionmakers, we also see the extraordinary phenomenon of BandAid and the surge of public interest in the African crisis and thus at least some questioning about the reason for that crisis. Are we missing an opportunity to assist public understanding? And might we not, in so doing and in demystifying our subject, gain as a byproduct some support for it which could stand us in good stead in the difficulties which I have mentioned earlier? As President of the DSA, attempting to forward its interests and the cause of development studies, I have been confronted constantly by these issues and questions, which converge on the theme of the nature and role of development studies in Britain today. My predecessors could derive more exciting themes from the nature of development itself but I feel pressed, in the context which I have described, to look at some more limited concerns. I shall focus on three issues: the perception of development studies as essentially multidisciplinary; our relationship as British scholars with scholars from developing countries; and our possible involvement with development education.

Higher education and the reality of interdependence

Abstract The paper starts from the viewpoint that universities must develop relationships with one another, since scholarship cannot be pursued in isolation. Universities should thus be independent and autonomous, but cannot be self-sufficient. The use of the word interdependence implies a long-term relationship, which should be one of common interest. A central issue is how far the relatiohship between universities of the north and south is a healthy one, with advantages for both sides. The current reality is one of imbalance. Southern students do not have the same advantage of travel as do their northern counterparts; and southern students at northern universities are, to some extent, used to keep those institutions afloat. Although there is plentiful north-south communication among academics, southern academics do not enjoy equal access to journals, libraries and especially research facilities in their own countries. Curricula in the south may now use relevant subject-matter, such as local history and geography, but many subject frameworks remain north-oriented and indigenous knowledge is often still disparaged. In institutional relationships, the universities of the south face such adversities that they need moral and financial support from counterparts in the north, but their very need makes them vulnerable to inappropriate or manipulative help, particularly in regard to their organisation and management. To redress the various imbalances, southern universities will have to further develop their own relationships with each other and in particular to build up regional centres of excellence. Universities of the north should be more aware of the achievement of their counterparts in the south and more understanding of their problems.

Women's right to learning and literacy

Reflecting some of the perspectives of Robinson-Pant and Nabi, that women’s learning should be developmental and part of more holistic policies, Chopra focuses on the expressed learning interests of traditional midwives. She explores how a rights-based and social transformation approach to literacy learning could result in an impact on female feticide and infanticide.

Celebration, reflection and challenge: The BAICE 20th anniversary

This Forum feature is one of a series of initiatives designed to recognise and celebrate the 20 Anniversary of the British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE). It is an honour for both of us to represent the association in this anniversary year and we are pleased to help mark this important milestone with this special edition of the Compare Forum. The anniversary initiatives include a well-attended and well-received Anniversary Symposium on the theme of ‘Sustainability, Peace and Education’, convened by the Centre for Comparative and International Research in Education (CIRE) at the University of Bristol (https://cireblog.wordpress.com/blog/) in May 2018, and a panel discussion based upon the present Compare Forum contributions scheduled for the association’s annual conference to be held at the University of York from September 12–14, 2018 (see https://baice.ac.uk). Michael will also build his 2018 Presidential Address around the history, evolution and ‘reconceptualisation’ of BAICE (Crossley 1999), while engaging with the conference theme and his own related research. In planning the shape and content of the Forum, efforts were made to identify a diverse range of contributors who could reflect upon their personal experience of different times, roles and activities. The following sections thus cover the pre-history of BAICE, its foundation and early days, strengthening of the research dimension, increased opportunities for doctoral and early-career researchers, the growth and development of Compare, the official journal of the Association, and contemporary challenges and priorities for future development. Biographical details for the contributors are included at the end to indicate how and when they have each engaged with and supported the society. Contributors were invited to develop the above themes in ways that document the growth of BAICE and demonstrate how much has both changed and been achieved in those first 20 years – years that, as many of our writers have remarked, have passed so quickly! While there is certainly well justified space for celebration, each of our contributors also critically interrogate a number of contemporary challenges that need to be addressed as BAICE explores new priorities for the future. In the light of our own experience, and the papers presented here, that future will be challenging but secure if the collegial, supportive and friendly culture that has long COMPARE 2018, VOL. 48, NO. 5, 801–820 https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2018.1499219