1.

Record Nr.

UNISA996649868403316

Titolo

Go West! : Conceptual Explorations of “the West” in the History of Education / / ed. by Bernhard Hemetsberger, Andreas Oberdorf

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Mnchen ; ; Wien : , : De Gruyter Oldenbourg, , [2025]

2025

ISBN

3-11-140898-1

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (VI, 227 p.)

Disciplina

978.0071

Soggetti

HISTORY / General

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Table of Contents -- Searching for “the West” in the History of Education -- Conceptual Attempts on/from “the West” -- Between Evolutionary and Container Concept: Western Self-Assertions, German Westernizers, and the Spatialization of Political Thought -- Perspectives on “the West” -- The Best in the West? The “West” in and as School Crisis Narratives -- Reaching Modernity through Western Education? Debates and Practices in Modern Japan, 1853 –1894 -- “The West” from a Postcolonial Perspective of History of Education: The Construct “Europe” as a Conceptual Boarder -- French Discourses on the “West,” “Modernity,” and “Civilization”: The Example of francophonie républicaine -- Discursive Strategies of the Soviet Union in Legitimating the Western “Borrowing”: The (Re)Invention of the West and the Case of Programmed Instruction -- Americanization “Russian Style”: Russia’s Love–Hate Relations with America -- Letztes Jahr Titanic (1990) and Große weite Welt (1997) -- In Pursuit of the Frontier: Changes at an American School in Switzerland -- Epistemological Endeavors on “the West” -- Re-Thinking “Europe” with Central-Eastern Europe: Towards Non-Occidentalist and Decolonial Epistemics in/of Queer Studies -- Antagonists, Arbiters, and Allies: West German Historians and their American Colleagues -- List of Contributors -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

The “West” is a central concept in public discourse, but its meaning is often unclear and open to manifold interpretations and ascriptions of



belonging and exclusion: Who is part of the “West”? When and where is it located? How did its meaning change over space and time? Who are the mediators of the “West” and what is their interest in terms of culture and education? The “West” is often used without any critical questioning, though. This is also reflected in history of education research, especially with focus on transnational or transatlantic issues. Here, the “West” is a sort of “container” term or “fuzzy” concept that can refer to a variety of historical entanglements and cultural transfers in school systems and education, but also to conflicts and crises, accordingly. This book aims to stimulate a critical reflection and debate on ideas of the “West” in the history of education by gathering scholars from various fields of historical research. With a reflexive historical distance to current political incidents, in which ideas of the “West” are revived, the contributions in this book are intended to enable readers to evaluate representations of the “West” in current academic or public discourses and debates alike.