Towards a culture of learning: a European policy perspective

Two of the most important education and training policies developed (and still being developed) by the European Commission (EC) are those of the Validation of Non-formal and Informal Learning and a Learning Outcomes approach to the specification of learning. Both of these policies are intended to contribute to the achievement of a Lifelong Learning culture within the community. This short article is based upon a half-day training session delivered to officers of the EC (Brussels, October, 2008) and the follow-up summary paper

New Hollywood in the rust belt: urban decline and downtown renaissance in 'The King of Marvin Gardens' and 'Rocky'

This article reviews the geographical dynamics of New Hollywood, arguing that the industrial crisis of 1969-1971 catalyzed further decentralization of location shooting beyond Los Angeles, bringing new types of urban space into view. It examines the parallel crisis and restructuring of the film industry and the inner city via two films, The King of Marvin Gardens (1972) and Rocky (1976), which are emblematic of distinct phases in the development of New Hollywood. Through their aesthetic strategies, narrative structure and mapping of cinematic space, these films produce allegories of urban decline and renewal that closely engaged with the transformation of the American city, from the urban crisis of the late 1960s to neoliberal programs of renewal in the late 1970s

Positive solutions of a boundary value problem with integral boundary conditions

We consider boundary-value problems studied in a recent paper. We show that some existing theory developed by Webb and Infante applies to this problem and we use the known theory to show how to find improved estimates on parameters μ*, λ so that some nonlinear differential equations, with nonlocal boundary conditions of integral type, have two positive solutions for all λ with μ*< λ < λ

Who is willing to deliberate, and how? Dissatisfied democrats, stealth democrats and populists in the UK: SEI Working Paper 131

This article draws on a new survey of British citizens to test the hypothesis that there are two quite distinctive types of attitude prevalent among those who are ‘disaffected’ with politics, the ‘dissatisfied democratic’ and ‘stealth democratic’ orientations, the former being more widespread in the UK. While neither manifests a high level of trust for the political elite, the dissatisfied democratic citizen is politically interested, efficacious and desires greater political participation, while the contrary is generally true of the stealth democrat. However, although stealth democrats are unwilling to engage in most forms of participation or deliberation, they are ambiguous about direct democracy, which can be attributed to the populist nature of stealth democratic attitudes