Human capital theory, developing children as future workers, shapes thinking about early childhood education policy around the globe. International contributors problematize this thinking and offer alternatives.

PART I: THEORY AND HISTORY OF HUMAN CAPITAL1. Introduction and Historical Perspective; Theodora Lightfoot-Rueda and Ruth Lynn Peach2. Theorizing Dialogue Among Various Voices in Critical Theory; Joseph ZanoniPART II: DECONSTRUCTION AND CRITIQUE OF HUMAN CAPITAL AND EDUCATION3. Governing the Brain: New Narratives of Human Capital in Australian Early Childhood Education; Zsuzsa Millei4. The Instrumentality of Spanish in Early Spanish Education: Unraveling the Linguistic Masquerade; Alejandro Azocar5. "Abilities-Machines": Human Capital Theory and Early Education by Sabiha Bilgi6. Human Capital Theory and Shifting Perceptions of Teachers in the US; Theodora Lightfoot-Rueda7. Reforming Early Childhood Education as a Smart Investment for the Future: Stories from East Asia; I-Fang Lee, Chao-Ling Tseng, and Hong-Ju Jun8. England's Foundation Stage Child in a Shifting World: Troubling the Grids of Reasoning of 'Children with Potential,' 'Normalization' and 'Value-Added' Curriculum; Ruth Lynn Peach9. Deconstructing Human Capital Discourse in Early Childhood Education in Indonesia; Vina Adriany and Kurniawan SaefullahPART III: RECONCEPTUALIZING EDUCATION OUTSIDE OF HUMAN CAPITAL LANGUAGE10. And You Gotta Believe Me: When Social Capital and Human Capital Collide; Janice Kroeger11. Questioning the Discourses of Human Capital in Early Childhood Education: Reconceptualizing Theory, Policy and Practice; Emma Buchanan12. Expanding the Value of Early Education: The Capabilities Approach as an Alternative to Human Capital Theory; Cary Buzzelli13. Concluding and Moving Forward; Theodora Lightfoot-Rueda and Ruth Lynn Peach