Comparison and Theories

Between the years of 1965 and the late 1990s higher education in a number of West European countries, including England, Norway and Sweden, went through a period of unprecedented growth, both in terms of its scope and its comprehensiveness. The purpose of the first edition of this book was to render a social science analysis of this period. The second edition brings the analysis up to date and includes developments until the end of 2004. Our aim is to develop an understanding of the changes that the higher education system has undergone in the last 40 years, what these changes mean in terms of the relationship between knowledge and political power, and the perspectives the observed developments raise for the future ‘education society’.