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This conceptual paper is offered in place of a systematic analysis of militarization in organizations and the wider world. It proceeds on the understanding that militarization implies deep historical tendencies that are not easy to simply avoid, especially where one wishes to observe or to analyse phenomena systematically.

This paper seeks out alternative means of engagement with references to the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud, the critical theory of Theodor Adorno and the poetry of W.H. Auden. The departure, however, is taken in response to a brief and questionable statement by Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) about world history and the position of reason since the end of the Second World War.

Historical analysis, it is argued, is essential for any understanding of processes of militarization but not adequate on its own.

Militarization means, at least in the first instance, the adoption of military modes of organization and engagement in supposedly non‐military environments. But at a deeper level, which is nonetheless manifest in both a developing technology and an increasingly technological attitude, it implies the repetition of basic attitudes to others and to life. Furthermore the very meaning of militarization is likely to undergo metamorphoses as a result of these trends.

History in the Western world is replete with uproars over the intervention of ministers of religion in the affairs of the state. It is said by many that the Church should concern itself with the souls of men. Political matters are beyond its purview and outside its competence. For its part, the Church claims the right for the sake of its flock to intervene in political matters involving ethical principles. It is this sort of spiritual development which the Church is here trying both to preserve and advance that Solzhenitsyn had in mind when he spoke of man's task here on earth.

Catholic theologians and ethicists date the modern entrance of the Church into the area of social justice and social economics by the publication of Pope Leo XIII's landmark encyclical, Rerum Novarum, 15 May, 1891. He began the letter with these words:

It says something of the current state of public discourse that the inclusion of a paper on the social teachings of an organized religion as part of a Conference on Ethico‐Economics must be explained. Theology and Religion, once at the center of any discourse on public policy, has become marginalized in such discussions. There are those who associate the decline of theology with the era of the Cold War. That conclusion is at least debatable. “Economic Man”, in the context of the post‐war period, was very much a social being for whom government and public institutions, a pro‐Keynesian economics, were essential allies. Adam Smith, accepted as the founder of classical Economics, wrote his seminal work, The Wealth of Nations, when he was Professor of Moral Philosophy. Smith's concept of markets was framed as a social and ethical instrument. The Reagan and Thatcher regimes did succeed in undermining economic policy as a social instrument to the extent that most industrial nations and the important international organizations now give pre‐eminence to the balanced budget as the vehicle for corporate interests. The elimination of deficits and the efficacy of financial markets are seen in some quarters not only as ends in themselves but also as means to facilitate each other. The critics of these policies are presently weak and unpopular but they are not silent. This disparate group between them embrace a range of social, cultural, and ethical values. They seek to establish that some ends and some means must be rejected as being ethically unacceptable. It is this context that this paper seeks to position the social teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

Faith‐based activism in living wage campaigns is on the rise. Summarizes recent campaigns to enact living wage ordinances in US municipalities, underscoring the role of community‐church partnerships such as Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, and other local organizations in the struggle for wage justice. Explores the theological bases of this activism by tracing the evolution of the concept of a just, living wage in Christian social economic thought. To illustrate the historical and philosophical roots of living wage discourse, provides textual analysis of major Roman Catholic and Episcopal Church documents and briefly considers writings by US social economists in the first half of the twentieth century.

Although Herefordshire does not have long traditions of rural library provision two experiments took place in the 1890s. (1) In 1894, the newly founded Colwall Parish Council started providing a wide range of services, including a rate supported library from 1899. The problems of library administration within the framework of parochial government are examined. (2) From 1899 John Percival, bishop of Hereford, provided an itinerating library service based on ecclesiastical parishes. Although reorganised and extended in 1906 it proved expensive to operate and met with hostility from community leaders. It pioneered features found in the later county library service.

THE end of October saw the return of most of our overseas visitors, continental and otherwise, to their homes, leaving with us pleasant memories of a mutually successful visit. The Englishman's proverbial difficulties with foreign tongues, even of neighbouring France, did not complicate matters unduly or reduce too much those interchanges which conference and school afforded. We can repeat our frequently‐expressed hope that there will be an ever increasing series of visits, both of the foreigner to England and of ourselves as foreigners to other countries. We would welcome longer stays in both cases. Nothing but good can come from them.

THE earliest catalogue of Cambridge University documents was compiled by Mr. William Rysley, in 1420. Most of the documents enumerated in this list are still extant. An interesting List of the Documents in the University Registry, from the year 1266 to the year 1544, was communicated to the Cambridge Antiquarian Society by the Rev. H. R. Luard, B.D., then University Registrar, on March 6th, 1876. From this, it appears that “The earliest document which the University possesses is so late as the year 1266. The earliest in the Record office is dated 16th July, 13 Hen. III., i.e. 1229. This is a permission to scholars of the University of Paris to come to England, and remain for purposes of study.”

By “political economy” I mean both the method of thought and the body of knowledge which refer to human economising behaviour. The body of knowledge includes both theory — theorems, laws, empirical generalisations, etc., and “facts” — history, description of institution, statistical data, etc. By “Christian theology” I mean both the method of thought and the body of knowledge which refer to the human religious understanding of Jesus of Nazareth. “Religious” here implies awareness of, or belief in, God. The body of knowledge may include pre‐Christian religion (such as that reported in the Old Testament), and the results of independent inquiry (such as natural theology) in so far as these are interpreted by, or “refracted” through what theologians call the “Christ event”.

Ever since Peter Honey published The Manual of Learning Styles (with Alan Mumford) in 1982 he has been intrigued with the possibility of learning from any experience. Experiences come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some are sought, some just happen, some are welcome, some are decidedly unwelcome, some are stimulating, some are boring. As someone who is intrigued with the process of learning from experience, and who views “life” as just one experience after another, Peter Honey finds it easy to believe that everything that happens has learning potential. Imagine his delight, therefore, when in 1984 he was approached by Roger Lobley and John Bishop of ICI's Petrochemicals and Plastics Division and invited to work with them, and senior staff from the Outward Bound School at Eskdale, Cumbria, on the design of a programme that used outdoor activities as a vehicle to help in the development of learning skills and a structured approach to interpersonal skills.