Foundations for Reconstructing Elites: Communist Higher Education Policies in the Czech Lands, East Germany, and Poland, 1945-1948
Foundations for Reconstructing Elites: Communist Higher Education Policies in the Czech Lands, East Germany, and Poland, 1945-1948
Author(s): John ConnellySubject(s): Civil Society, Political history, Government/Political systems, Politics and society, History of Education, State/Government and Education, WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Sociology of Politics, Sociology of Education
Published by: SAGE Publications Ltd
Keywords: Political elites; reconstructing elites; communist legacy; higher education policy; 1945-1948; Eastern Europe; Stalinist theory; higher education as tool for creating elites;
Summary/Abstract: Stalinist theory demanded uniformity, yet East European societies produced various Stalinist practices. The origins of diverse practice stretch far back into the political traditions of each society, but the Second World War and its immediate aftermath were decisive influences. The war shattered polities and societies. After the rubble of ruin had been cleared, newly constituted societies had to build new foundations. The stability of the Stalinist edifice would depend upon the role taken by Communists in forming these foundations. The study of diversity in Stalinism is promising ground for the comparative social historian, for the political logic that applied in these societies was nearly identical. If the outcomes of the Stalinist experiment varied this was because the societies varied. Hardly any area of societal life figured as prominently in the Stalinist ambition to transform society as did higher education-the tool for creating new elites. [...]
Journal: East European Politics and Societies
- Issue Year: 10/1996
- Issue No: 03
- Page Range: 367-392
- Page Count: 26
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF