This book engages with the political, philosophical and policy debates around contemporary democratic socialism and state education. It examines contemporary education and education systems, as well as democratic socialism in the context of the complex political world we live in currently. It takes the reader towards a democratic socialist curriculum and pedagogy, and concludes by investigating democratic socialism and governance in education. Discussing the work of Axel Honneth, Chantal Mouffe and Norberto Bobbio, the book argues that contemporary democratic socialism gives a philosophical and political grounding to the notion of education being more than simply preparation for work or a series of qualifications. It makes the case for education as an exercise in democratic community, and learning as collective citizenship. Taking the curriculum, classroom pedagogy, and educational governance in turn, it offers a series of practical ways in which state education can be re-interpreted and re-applied to emphasise the democratic, collective and creative aspects of learning. "Hopkins contends, firstly, that twenty-first-century democratic socialism must reinvigorate itself by responding to the challenges of liberalism; and, secondly, that a socially just education system must be willing to learn from such a reinvigorated socialism. These twinned theses are clearly and concisely thought through in relation to urgent educational, and more broadly socio-political, issues: contemporary democratic-socialist thought; educational systems (and possibilities for reform); curriculum design; pedagogy; systems and mechanisms of governance. In just a few thousand words, Hopkins’s Democratic Socialism and Education manages to be that rare thing: a book that is both lucid introduction and original contribution. It will surely appeal equally to teachers, philosophers of education, and those engaged in educational action research." Dr. Oliver Belas, Lecturer in Education, School of Education and English Language, University of Bedfordshire, UK

This book is a comparative study of the endeavors to create a socialist system of higher education in the Soviet Union under Stalin and in China under Mao. It is organized around three themes: the convergence of Maoism with Stalinism in the early 1950s, which induced the transnational transplantation of the Soviet model of higher education to China; historical convergence between Stalinism of the First Five-Year Plan period (1928–1932) and Maoism of the Great Leap period (1958–1960), which was prominently manifested in Soviet and Chinese higher education policies in these respective periods; the eventual divergence of Maoism from Stalinism on the definition of socialist society, which was evinced in the different final outcomes of the Maoist and Stalinist endeavors to create a socialist system of higher learning.

This text sets out to challenge the reader by posing the question: can we learn from history? More particularly, can we learn from social history and the effects on people living today after National Socialism - the German form of fascism?; Of crucial significance, the authors show how social education in all areas of national socialist society operated and how it functioned in terms of an interest in political formation and social discipline. What is clear is an attempt at complete social control, an unceasing incorporation of the whole lives of all people. At the centre of all these practices stood a process that was meant to lead to a particular formation of identity and ideology. The success of National Socialism in achieving its objectives must today cause us to investigate the relationship between identity and formation, political culture and pedagogic activity.

This book re-examines aspects of historical socialism, and includes case studies of education within twenty-first century socialist and post-socialist contexts shaped by the trajectories of historical socialism. Through these case studies, contributions offer insights into key questions: How are education systems and student subjectivities shaped by post-socialist trajectories and current regional politics, economics and resistance movements? How do sedimented socialist discourses and geographies alter and contest the ‘neoliberal child’ and ‘childhood’ in post-socialist education? How have disjunctures between the rhetoric of historical Marxism-Leninism and the practices of educators, students and student political organizations played out under socialism, and what could we learn from that for our present? How much emancipatory potential is there in the theories and practices of (popular) education for combatting injustice in the absence of mass, revolutionary political parties? Above all, this volume affirms the need to move beyond simplistic accounts of historical socialism and post-socialist transitions. By exploring how socialist trajectories remain influential and have potential in our current contexts, this book contributes to the work of politically engaged educators working to re-imagine and reconstruct education. This book was originally published as a special issue of Globalisation, Societies and Education.

This book explores childhood and schooling in late socialist societies by bringing into dialogue public narratives and personal memories that move beyond imaginaries of Cold War divisions between the East and West. Written by cultural insiders who were brought up and educated on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain - spanning from Central Europe to mainland Asia - the book offers insights into the diverse spaces of socialist childhoods interweaving with broader political, economic, and social life. These evocative memories explore the experiences of children in navigating state expectations to embody “model socialist citizens” and their mixed feelings of attachment, optimism, dullness, and alienation associated with participation in “building” socialist futures. Drawing on the research traditions of autobiography, autoethnography, and collective biography, the authors challenge what is often considered ‘normal’ and ‘natural’ in the historical accounts of socialist childhoods, and engage in (re)writing histories that open space for new knowledges and vast webs of interconnections to emerge. This book will be compelling reading for students and researchers working in education, sociology and history, particularly those within the interdisciplinary fields of childhood and area studies. ‘The authors of this beautiful book are professional academics and intellectuals who grew up in different socialist countries. Exploring “socialist childhoods” in myriad ways, they draw on memories, and collective history, emotional insider knowledge and the measured perspective of an analyst. What emerges is life that was caught between real optimism and dullness, ethical commitments and ideological absurdities, selfless devotion to children and their treatment as a political resource. Such attention to detail and examination of the paradoxical nature of this time makes this collective effort not only timely but remarkably genuine.’ —Alexei Yurchak, University of California, USA

"This seminal work . . . establishes a persuasive new paradigm."--Contemporary Sociology No book since Schooling in Capitalist America has taken on the systemic forces hard at work undermining our education system. This classic reprint is an invaluable resource for radical educators. Samuel Bowles is research professor and director of the behavioral sciences program at the Santa Fe Institute, and professor emeritus of economics at the University of Massachusetts. Herbert Gintis is an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute and emeritus professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts.

From Class to Identity offers an analysis of education policy-making in the processes of social transformation and post-conflict development in the Western Balkans. Based on a number of examples (case studies) of education reform in the former Yugoslavia from the decade before its violent breakup to contemporary efforts in post-conflict reconstruction it tells the story of the political processes and motivations underlying specific education reforms. The book moves away from technical-rational or prescriptive approaches that dominate the literature on education policy-making during social transformation, and offers an example on how to include the social, political and cultural context in the understanding of policy reforms. It connects education policy at a particular time in a particular place with broader questions such as: What is the role of education in society? What kind of education is needed for a 'good' society? Who are the 'targets' of education policies (individuals/citizens, ethnic/religious/linguistic groups, societies)? Bacevic shows how different answers to these questions influence the contents and outcomes of policies.