Education and ideologies in Eastern Europe: a comparative history of Hungary, Poland and Romania.

This article proposes a reading of educational transformations as ideological phenomena and mythological effects, focussing on processes of stratification. A historical and comparative overview, from nation formation through to the end of the ‘90s, sheds light on the early political myths and ideologies which influenced the idea of a national school in Eastern Europe. A historical perspective on political ideologies also highlights their recurrent renewal through the socialist era into post-socialist transformation. Indeed, the ideological landscape of politics and education in Eastern Europe may be viewed as a specific response to modernisation. I will argue that the renewal of early political ideologies, particularly the aut-aut ideology of a rationalist cosmopolitanism vs. romantic Herderianism, and the socio-political profile of Eastern European societies are intertwined with educational phenomena, although this relationship is not deterministic. Indeed, it is possible to observe how education has consistently and paradoxically reinforced social stratification, although nuanced by various variables, particularly time period.