Jan Germen Janmaat

Regimes of Social Cohesion

This paper explores the different meanings of social cohesion in historical and contemporary societies and identifies some different ‘regimes of social cohesion’, and their characteristics, that can be found in western and east Asian societies. It adopts a mixed-method and interdisciplinary approach, drawing on the literatures in comparative historical sociology and comparative political economy, and using both qualitative, logical comparative methods, and quantitative statistical analysis. In the first section of the paper we analyse the constituents of social cohesion which are specified in different definitions-in-use in policy and contemporary academic writing. This leads to a definition of social cohesion which is non-normative and non-exclusive and which can be used in empirical analysis. The second section seeks to identify the major historical traditions of writings about social cohesion and the social order in western sociology and political philosophy and the logics they imply as to the forces which bind society together. Sections three and four review some historical evidence for social origins of different traditions of social cohesion in the West, and their subsequent patterns of evolution, based on ‘longue duree’ accounts of historical development and on ‘non-absolute’ notions of path dependency. Section five uses the literature on ‘varieties of capitalism’ and ‘welfare state regimes’ to develop some provisional theories about different contemporary forms of social cohesion which may be found in particular regions – or clusters of countries in the West and east Asia. We call these ‘regimes of social cohesion’, in the same way that Esping-Andersen (1990) refers to ‘welfare regimes’ and Michael Walzer (1997) to ‘regimes of toleration’. The last section of the paper uses international data on social attitudes and institutional characteristics to test empirically whether such regimes can be identified in terms of regions or country clusters which display particular sets of institutional characteristics and aggregate social attitudes.

Popular conceptions of nationhood in old and new European member states : Partial support for the ethnic-civic framework

Abstract One of the most influential theories in the study of nationalism has been the ethnic-East/civic-West framework developed by Hans Kohn. Using the 2002 Eurobarometer survey on national identity and building on earlier survey studies, this article examines whether the Kohn framework is valid at the level of popular understandings of nationhood. It scrutinizes the framework both conceptually – do people define nationhood in civic or ethnic terms? – and regionally – is the East indeed more ethnic than the West and the West more civic than the East? It will show that identity markers cluster in a political, a cultural and an ethnic dimension. Respondents do not see these dimensions as competing sources of nationhood, however. The article further lends some support for the regional component of the framework. Lastly, it argues that it is the intensity of national identifications rather than their qualitative nature (ethnic-civic) that correlates with xenophobia.

The ethnic ‘other’ in Ukrainian history textbooks: the case of Russia and the Russians

This paper examines portrayals of Russia and the Russians in two generations of Ukrainian history textbooks. It observes that the textbooks are highly condemning of Ukraines main ethnic other in the guise of foreign ruler: the tsarist authorities and the Soviet regime are always attributed dubious and malicious intentions even if there is appreciation for some of their policies. By contrast, the books, certainly those of the second generation, refrain from presenting highly biased accounts of the ethnic other as a national group (i.e. Russians). Instances where negative judgements do fall onto Russians are counterbalanced by excerpts criticizing ethnic Ukrainians or highlighting conflicting interests within the Ukrainian ethnic group. The negative appraisal of the ethnic other as foreign ruler is clearly instrumental for the nation‐building project as it sustains a discourse legitimating the existence of Ukraine as independent state. However, recent trends in history education, the paper concludes, suggest that the importance of nurturing patriotism as a national policy objective is diminishing.

Learning citizenship through social participation outside and inside school: an international, multilevel study of young people's learning of citizenship

In this article we revisit and re‐analyse data from the 1999 IEA CIVED transnational study to examine the factors associated with the ways in which young people learn positive attitudes towards participation in, and knowledge and skills about democracy. Less formal learning, wherever it takes place, has recently been conceptualised as a process of social participation, and we explore its effects using Lave and Wenger’s and Wenger’s understanding of learning through communities of practice. This is then contrasted with the effect of the volume of civic education. The analysis shows that learning through social participation, both inside and outside school, and in particular through meaning‐making activities shows a strong positive relationship with citizenship knowledge, skills and dispositions across a wide range of countries. Moreover, it demonstrates the usefulness of situated learning theory in the field of civic learning, and its applicability in large‐scale, quantitative studies.

Citizenship education in Ukraine and Russia: reconciling nation‐building and active citizenship

This paper examines the discourses framing citizenship education in Ukraine and Russia from perestroika to the present and assesses the role of the Council of Europe in promoting democratic citizenship in both countries. We argue that there is a tension between the discourses of active citizenship, strongly disseminated by international agencies (the Council of Europe in our case), and national consolidation, pursued by Ukraine and Russia since the fall of the Soviet regime. While the beginning of the 1990s was marked by democratization and individualization, from the mid‐1990s the emphasis on state cohesion became more prominent in both states. From the end of the 1990s, however, citizenship education aims started to diverge, despite a similar approach of the Council of Europe to the two countries. In Russia the government reinforced the state cohesion agenda, which led to the patriotic education discourse gaining strength. In Ukraine, nation‐building was made secondary to bringing the education system in line with international standards in order to improve the country’s competitiveness. The nature of citizenship education in the two countries therefore seems to be more a reflection of domestic political developments than the product of international policy agenda.

Promoting Ethnic Tolerance and Patriotism: The Role of Education System Characteristics

The literature on political socialization has overlooked the influence of system characteristics of schooling on civic values and youth political identities. This article addresses that gap by investigating the degree to which system differentiation relates to the values of ethnic tolerance and patriotism. We distinguish between pedagogical differentiation and territorial differentiation. While the first concept relates to the contrast between early tracking and comprehensive education, the second term captures the contrast between federal versus unitary states. We find that comprehensive schooling and nonfederal systems are associated with smaller disparities of ethnic tolerance and patriotism across ethnic and social groups. Patriotism is positively linked to ethnic tolerance in nonfederal systems. We suggest that nonexclusionary forms of patriotism can be promoted by public education through some form of national regulation of the curriculum.

The Effect of Classroom Diversity on Tolerance and Participation in England, Sweden and Germany

The belief is widespread in educational circles that ethnically mixed schools contribute to inter-ethnic tolerance and community cohesion. Some political science studies, however, have found that trust and participation are lower in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods. This paper explores the relation between classroom ethno-racial diversity, ethnic tolerance and participation in England, Sweden and Germany using data from the IEA Civic Education Study among 14-year-olds. Controlling for various conditions at the individual and classroom levels, it finds a positive effect of classroom diversity on ethnic tolerance in Sweden and Germany, which is in agreement with the contact perspective on inter-ethnic relations. However, it does not find an effect on tolerance in England. Moreover, classroom diversity only shows a positive relation with participation in Sweden. The effect of diversity thus varies substantially across the two outcomes of interest and the three countries examined. It is therefore tentatively concluded that country-specific factors shape this effect to a significant degree.

Education and identity formation in post-communist Europa and East Asia: Introduction

Only twenty years ago the communist states in Eastern Europe and East Asia were remarkably similar in terms of both their dominant ideologies and their economic structures. In both regions the Communist Party exercised supreme control over the economy, politics and cultural life. Public education was geared towards delivering technicians and professionals faithful to party and state and satisfied with the narrow range of intellectual pursuits permitted by the authorities. The humanities (history, literature) and social studies (geography, civics) in particular served to nurture unconditional loyalty to communist ideology, while suppressing heterodox views. However, since the mid-1980s, crisis in the command economy and a failure to keep pace with the West in technological development have motivated or compelled political elites in both regions to liberalise their economies and engage in market reforms. This, however, is where the similarities between the two regions end. From the late 1980s the two regions have followed radically different trajectories. While China and Vietnam have restricted reform to the economic sphere, the former Warsaw Pact countries matched their new economic liberties with greater freedom in the political and cultural arenas. This freedom set in motion an uncontrollable chain of events that not only led to the demise of communism but also to the disintegration of several multinational federal states. From the ashes of these states—the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia—a multitude of new sovereign nations arose, most of which had little or no recent history of independent statehood. With the exceptions of Belarus and Turkmenistan, these new states have—at least formally— embraced the principles of liberalism, democracy and the rule of law. At the same time, the post-communist states in Eastern Europe have sought to win international recognition and prestige by joining bodies such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe (COE), intergovernmental organizations that promote and monitor democracy, human rights, freedom of speech and interethnic tolerance. Almost all of these states have signed international treaties committing them to pursue liberal-democratic policies and have invited the OSCE and the COE to undertake joint projects aimed at reforming and democratizing their national education systems. Some states have moved beyond this and have voluntarily ceded some decision-making autonomy by Compare Vol. 37, No. 3, June 2007, pp. 267–275

Subjective Inequality: a Review of International Comparative Studies on People’s Views about Inequality

This study reviews international comparative studies investigating people’s views on inequality. These studies are classified using a framework consisting of three types of conceptions of inequality and two dimensions of inequality. Four perspectives are discussed explaining cross-national differences in views on inequality: the modernist, the culturalist, the micro and the macro perspective. The findings of studies comparing views on inequalities in post-communist and Western states provide more support for the modernist than for the culturalist perspective. Few comparative studies appear to investigate views on inequalities as independent variables impacting on other social attitudes and behaviours. It is argued that the social relevance of the field will be enhanced if more studies can show that views on inequality have an effect on social outcomes complementary to that of objective inequalities.

Ethnic and Civic Conceptions of the Nation in Ukraine's History Textbooks.

This article examines the image of the nation in the history textbooks of post-Soviet Ukraine. Ukraine is an interesting case as it is the second most populous Soviet successor state—48 million inhabitants according to the 2001 census—and harbors a population with a complicated ethnolinguistic structure. This demographic portrait differs from that of other post-Soviet states in that a substantial part of the titular nation (ethnic Ukrainians) became “russified” during the Soviet era. Consequently, ethnic and linguistic cleavages do not coincide: whereas ethnic Ukrainians and ethnic Russians make up 78 percent and 18 percent of the population respectively, the Ukrainianand Russian-speaking communities constitute roughly equal halves. The question is how the authorities are trying to carve a unifying national identity out of this potentially divisive Soviet legacy. The analysis focuses on history textbooks as history provides the architects of nation building with an almost infinite source of raw material from which historical myths and narratives can be extracted that underpin and justify a nationalist discourse. Selection and interpretation of events are the key activities in this process. The use of history in schools, moreover, has the capacity to exert a powerful influence over both individual and collective minds (Phillips 1998). Our primary concern is with the nature of the Ukrainian nation being portrayed in the textbooks. Is this nation conceived of in exclusionary/ethnic or inclusive/civic terms? It may be said that the Ukrainian authorities are faced with a real dilemma in choosing between one of these visions, as both have