This first of two volumes is organized around the theme of the social, political, and economic contexts of education and training. (Volume II focuses on the development of vocational policy. Both volumes form part of the Open University MA Module, Education, Training, and the Future of Work.) An introduction (Geoff Esland, John Ahier) provides an overview of the 12 chapters. "The Changing Nature of Work" (Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland) describes these three strands in the web of social change: new technology, changing composition of the labor force, and market deregulation. "Education, Globalization, and Economic Development" (Phillip Brown, Hugh Lauder) outlines consequences of globalization and why education is crucial to future economic development. "The Great Work Dilemma" (Martin Carnoy) focuses on implications of economic globalization for employment and existence of a "work crisis.""The New Knowledge Work" (Stanley Aronowitz, William DiFazio) skeptically views the idea that education and training provide the key to competitive national advantage. "Jobs and People" (John Grieve Smith) criticizes the belief inherent in monetary policy that changes to the supply side of the economy should constitute the main basis of economic management. "Evaluating the Assumptions That Underlie Training Policy" (Ewart Keep, Ken Mayhew) argues that the problem of economic regeneration is less one of supply side weakness and more one of demand for skills. "Expanding Employment" (Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland) suggests that on moral and economic grounds reprioritizing is needed within government economic policy to give job creation as much attention as the need to restrain inflation. "Managerializing Organizational Culture" (Geoff Esland, Karen Esland, Mike Murphy, Karen Yarrow) examines ways in which human resource management has become a major instrument for the management of change imposed by the 1992 legislation on further and higher education institutions. "The University of Life plc" (Richard Winter) examines the impact of marketized managerialism on higher education. "Economic Restructuring and Unemployment" (Faith Robertson Elliot) concentrates on how aspects of family life have been affected by unemployment, underemployment, and growth of certain kinds of work carried out by women. "Social Change and Labor Market Transitions" (Andy Furlong, Fred Cartmel) concentrates on the current conditions under which young people negotiate their transition from school to work. "Big Pictures and Fine Detail" (John Ahier, Rob Moore) illustrates the difficulties of using broad descriptions of economic change to justify initiatives in education policy. An index is appended. (YLB)