This book makes the compelling argument that religion can be complicit in conflict and that a new secularism is vital to foster security. Using insights from complexity science, it shows how dynamic secularism can be used to accommodate diverse faiths and beliefs within worldly politics. Exploration of the interplay of religion and education in…

What roles can and should teachers' unions play in the deliberations, debates, and conflicts over school reform in a time when education sits at the center of so much of our economic, political, ideological, and cultural tensions? Lois Weiner's new book, "The Future of Our Schools: Teachers Unions and Social Justice," speaks…

This essay examines the educational opportunities of people in poverty who receive social welfare assistance. The dominant political theory underlying social policy (including education policy) in the United States has evolved from 1960s and 1970s welfare liberalism into 1980s and 1990s style neo-conservatism -- a theory that embraces principles…

Reviews four books about the student protest movements of the 1960s. Two books, by Todd Gitlin and Tom Hayden, focus on the United States, while the others consider international events; all four examine student political activism, but none considers the resultant conservative political and social reactions. (DHP)

In "The End of Racism" Dinesh D'Souza proposes a theory of rational discrimination based on the recognition that there are vast civilizational differences between black and white Americans and states a case for the repeal of the Civil Rights Act because it actually harms black prospects. (SLD)

This viewer's guide reflects some of the best classic and contemporary film titles available. These are films that reflect the traditional values of faith, family, and freedom. Seventy-five films are reviewed in the categories of achievement, communism, conscience, entrepreneurship, faith, family, freedom, crime and justice, regulation and…

Criticizes the book reviewed as a right-wing policy potboiler. Rebuts five main claims that devalue bilingual education and affirmative action while assuming that all Hispanics strive for the goal of measurable individual attainment, even at the cost of communal and cultural impoverishment. Suggests that the book glorifies the immigrant good old…

Discusses five children's books with a multicultural perspective published to commemorate the Columbus Quincentenary. Finds that the books maintain a deeply Eurocentric bias; bury all wrongs in a distant past; and do not escape the hierarchial, elitist, and individualistic attitudes embedded in contemporary society. (SR)

Two contemporary films, "Braveheart" and "Rob Roy," depict Scottish ethnicity from a rather narrow perspective. The positions that are sentimentally admired when attributed to white natives of Scotland are horrifying when expressed by contemporary peoples of color. These films raise interesting questions about the true nature…

The alarmist tone of four of these books is consistent with the surging anti-immigration sentiment of the mid-1990s. None is a serious effort to analyze the complex effects of immigration in the United States. The other two books reviewed present thoughtful and carefully researched examinations of immigration questions. (SLD)

Diane Ravitch makes an articulate case for higher national standards and more emphasis on performance assessments of various kinds, but she does this by simplifying the issues and failing to understand some of the most powerful economic, ideological, and political currents in the United States and elsewhere. (SLD)

Selectively highlights important reference and desiderata titles (books and periodicals) in English and Romanian by and about Romanian Americans. Thirty-six titles are cited in the following groups: (1) land-of-origin concerns; (2) immigration, adjustment, and settlement in America; (3) regional and local settlement--achievements and concerns; and…

Discusses the failure of filmmaker Spike Lee to grapple with the real politics of Malcolm X before and after he left the Nation of Islam. Acknowledging the complexity of the man and his context would avoid creating a mythical figure similar to Oliver Stone's movie "JFK." (SLD)

In "The Manufactured Crisis," D. Berliner and B. Biddle argue that there has been no decline in achievement test scores, that today's students outperform their parents and do well in international examinations, and that the supposed crisis in American education does not exist. This review refutes all these claims. (SLD)

In their arguments that there is actually no crisis in American education and that students are achieving more than previous generations, David Berliner and Bruce Biddle have ignored or dismissed extensive data on student achievement that demonstrate the failings of the American system. (SLD)