A political sociology of adult education : a research agenda

With the publication of the Southam Report in Canada (1987) showing the widespread functional illiteracy of vast sectors of the Canadian population, and the renewed discussion on the shortcomings of literacy training programmes in the U.S. (Kozol, 1985; Gee, 1986), adult education has become again a priority for policy makers in industrial advanced societies. This article challenges some of the bask assumptions of conventional mainstream adult education, taking advantage of the experience and theories mainly developed in dependent-development societies of Latin America. A political sociology of adult education takes as a starting point the relationships between the capitalist state and adult education. Therefore, the notion of the State should be considered central to any attempt to understand the "new" rationale for policy formation in this field. Some questions and queries on adult education policy formation are advanced here, and a new agenda for research is advocated.peer-reviewe

The Role and Development of Technology-Intensive Suppliers in Resource-Based Economies: A Literature Review

Although primary industries are important to developing countries, they have been largely unable to contribute to rapid growth. Systematically strengthening the development of local technology-intensive suppliers (t-suppliers), however, may contribute to both reinforcing the industrial base and supporting the competitiveness of primary production. Indeed, the development of t-suppliers has been common in those resource-based economies which achieved a high level of development (Scandinavia, Canada, Australia). This paper explores the role of t-suppliers in natural resource-based economies. It outlines a theoretical framework for the analysis of the factors which foster or constrain their development and defines areas for an effective promotion of t-suppliers. The proposed model of analysis distinguishes between factors influencing the development of t-suppliers on the level of the main industry (MI), the level of supplier firms or firm-level and the level of external determinants with special reference to industrial policy factors.Technology-intensive suppliers, resource-based economies, developing countries, SME promotion, economic growth

Zk\mathbb{Z}_k-stratifolds

Generalizing the ideas of $\mathbb{Z}_k$-manifolds from Sullivan and the theory of stratifolds from Kreck, we define $\mathbb{Z}_k$-stratifolds. We introduce the bordism theory of $\mathbb{Z}_k$-stratifolds in order to represent every homology class with $\mathbb{Z}_k$-coefficients. We present a geometric interpretation of the Bockstein long exact sequence and the Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence for $\mathbb{Z}_k$-bordism ($k$ odd)