In recent years, there has been an emerging theory of "student identity politics," which focuses on student activism based on race, gender, and sexual identity. Thus far, scholars have not yet systematically extended the analysis of student identity politics to those student activism relating to territorial identity. The student-led…

This essay considers the variants of liberal education that have arisen outside of the United States, conceptualizing liberal education as a loosely transferred "ideal type" and the United States as a "reference society." The geopolitical framings (i.e., American style, European model, Asian approach) that differentiate global…

This study seeks to document both the collective experiences and individual struggles of people who have mobilized around schools for migrant children in urban China. It addresses the following questions: (1) In what ways do migrant children schools provide space for parents and teachers to connect and mobilize for collective action? (2) How might…

In this article, I argue for the importance of conducting comparative studies of educational interventions implemented within the same sociopolitical environment. Taking into account both arguments for comparative research in education and recent calls for context-rich vertical case studies, I suggest that horizontal comparisons in a single…

Over the past century, missionary educators, nation-state and academic planners, and literacy development workers have used alphabets for political ends for traditionally marginalized languages, and Native peoples have contested such planning with other alphabet proposals. Yet literacy work now often overlooks that there are multiple alphabets…

This article critically examines the role of language as medium of instruction (MOI) in shaping students' self-perceptions, worldviews, and identities in a globalizing world. We draw on identity and social positioning theories and on Bourdieu's concepts of capital and symbolic struggle to frame our investigation. Using an analytical framework…

In recent years sub-Saharan African states, including Malawi, have adopted the Education for All (EFA) goal of universal, fee-free primary education (UPE). The EFA process is often linked to the expansion and sustainability of universal rights, democratic processes, and political systems. The EFA policies have also been tied, discursively and in…

Lebanon's violent past and sectarian strife have made the country's name synonymous with violence and disunity. Yet the discourse of at least one Lebanese religious institution can complicate the simplistic narrative about a country of warring religious groups with no national sentiments. The writings produced by the Makassed Philanthropic Islamic…

Provides a brief analysis of educational policymaking processes in terms of how they underscore the political basis of educational decisions. Examines four approaches to explaining collective decisions--rational decisionmaking theory, pluralist theory, systems analysis, and cybernetic theory--to explore how each might relate in quite different…

The purpose of this paper is to review some of the central segments of educational activities in the German Democratic Republic in order to determine the extent to which the two-way relationship implied in the "authoritarianism" model fits the present situation. (Author/RK)

This paper tried to show that education is one of the mechanisms developed by the dominant segments of (or the segments competing for influence in) Brazilian society, through direct initiatives and/or use of the political system, to enforce their respective interests. (Author/RK)

Article presented some considerations on the problem of conceptualization of politics of education and of decision-making processes and then analyzed questions that are raised when a decision-making approach is applied to the study of the educational institution. (Author/RK)

Article compared educational reform initiatives in Sweden and West Germany. (RK)

The author answers Plunkett's criticism of his social research in eastern Kentucky (AA 529 031), focusing on political biases that force Plunkett to take a unilinear view of the development process. (Author/RK)