This second issue of the European Educational Research Journal (EERJ) presents contributions to a conference on edcation and globalisation held last year in Frankfurt, Germany. Organised by the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University's Department of Education and sponsored by the Volkswagen-Foundation, the meeting with the title 'Education under Siege: shifting boundaries between politics, economy, and education' was held with the intention to contribute to the ongoing discussion concerning the major implications of 'globalisation' for education on general as well as on country-specific levels.According to a large number of economists, political scientists and cultural theorists 'globalisation' is the central contemporary indication of social change, recently taken up by educational research too (e.g. Burbules & Torres, 2000). At the same time many critics characterise 'globalisation' as just a fashionable discourse conceiving the term as a mere 'plastic word' (Poerksen et al, 1995). Both perceptions agree that there is more free association than precise designation. However, the issue is not a question of nominalistic definition, but depends also on the semantic field 'globalisation' is embedded in. It is comprised of a variety of other key terms such as deregulation, marketorientation, privatisation, competitiveness, efficiency, etc., which marks an intensification or enhancement of social processes and communication.Focussing on the commonly accepted descriptions, one may, moreover, rely on two certainties: First, major social theories are not really taken by surprise by the new developments and date the beginning of globalisation back
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