Introduction: Sixteen propositions on the contexts of inclusive education / David Mitchell -- The global context of inclusive education: the role of the United Nations / Peter Mittler -- Inclusive education in the globalization age: the promise of a comparative cultural-historical analysis / Alfredo Artiles and Alan Dyson -- Philosophy, politics and economics? The story of inclusive education in England / Alan Dyson -- Push and pull: forces that are shaping inclusion in the United States and Canada / Margaret J. McLaughlin and Anne Jordon -- Inclusive education in some Western European countries: different policy rhetorics and school realities / Ingemar Emanuelsson, Peder Haug and Bengt Persson -- Education and the politics of recognition: inclusive education - an Australian snapshot / Roger Slee -- Diverse socio-cultural contexts for inclusive education in Asia / David Mitchell and Ishwar Desai -- Inclusive education and equity in Latin American / Todd Fletcher and Alfredo J. Artiles -- Inclusive education in South Africa: an emerging pedagogy of possibility / Sigamoney Manicka Naicker -- Inclusive education in Middle Eastern cultures: the challenge of tradition / Ronald C. Brown -- Future directions / Todd Fletcher.