Different discourses, discourses of difference: Globalisation, distance education and open learning

Abstract

Post‐Fordism and globalisation are trends in the contemporary world in which the role of the market and consumer are given greater centrality. It has been argued that these trends have consequences of spreading ‘Western’ lifestyles and values around the globe, encouraging cultural uniformity, while also giving greater importance to senses of the local and place, encouraging cultural difference. Drawing on Foucault's notion of discourse, this paper suggests these trends are found also in changing theories of distance education and open learning. It is argued that notions of distance education are part of the trend towards uniformity under conditions of globalisation, while those of open learning are part of the trend encouraging difference and diversity. The discussion is situated within contemporary debates about the modern and postmodern.