Civil Enculturation

A team of seven European academics report findings from a joint research project examining how the identifications of young people from post-migration backgrounds are contextually constructed, and what factors account for this process. Centered around the civil cultures of four Western European countries--The Netherlands, Britain, Germany, and France--the project investigates ways in which the school curricula, texts, and pedagogical practices serve to transmit the ideals and preferred styles inherent in each of the civil cultures to the next generation students. The experiences of Turkish students in the four countries are compared, offering valuable insights into the changing dynamics of nation-state civil cultures in multicultural societies. Annotation : 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

For several years now, the concepts of 'civil culture' and 'civil society' have been widely discussed in the social sciences. Theoretically innovative and empirically rich, this volume is one of few studies that offer solid and focused ethnographic research on how the tenets and assumptions of civil culture are inculcated in schools. The authors examined school curricula, texts and pedagogical practices, observed daily interaction within the schools and outside, and conducted numerous interviews and discussion groups. The experience of students from Turkish backgrounds in the four countries was given special attention, thus offering valuable insights into the changing dynamics of nation-state civil cultures in multicultural societies.

This book responds to debates about the place of Muslims in Western Europe by considering the way people draw on practical schemas.

Memories, both in individual and collective form, still have a significant impact on how people relate to political processes in Europe today. While much has been written about top-down attempts by states and political actors to mould people’s memories of the past through public commemoration, textbooks or monuments, this volume takes a view from below by focusing on different types of societal actors and the ways in which they interact with the political world in order to influence collective memory. Presented within a comprehensive conceptual framework, the empirical cases focus on three countries of the former Soviet Union: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. They show that different or even antagonistic perceptions of the recent past not only appear between different ethnic groups, but also between socio-economic groups, different age groups or generations as well as between women and men. Moreover, they give an impressive account on the multiple ways in which these perceptions empower individuals and groups to seek greater influence in the construction of collective memory. The volume, therefore, not only provides a valuable and fresh perspective on the relationship between social memory and democratic politics, but also contributes to post-Communist regional studies in the enlarged European Union. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Baltic Studies.

This book offers a comprehensive, up-to-date look at modern Danish culture.

This volume explores numerous themes (including the influence of ethnography on religious education research and pedagogy, the interpretive approach to religious education, the relationship between research and classroom practice in religious education), providing a critique of contemporary religious education and exploring the implications of this critique for initial and continuing teacher education.