Building the nation at school

This article examines the way in which rising nationalisms in the process of constructing new nations or reconstructing past ones make use of the school institution, processes and agents. The case of Spain is examined, namely that of Catalan, Basque and Galician nationalisms, to show the evidence that new or secessionist nationalisms happen to be as manipulative as the old or unionist Spanish one. This appears clearly in the enforcement of differential languages as unique school languages, the manipulation of geography and history or the use and abuse of nationalist symbols. Finally, I try to explain how and why in this process there is a collusion of interests among nationalist forces and the teaching profession.

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Este trabajo analiza la forma en que los nacionalismos emergentes, en el proceso de construcción de las nuevas o reconstrucción de las viejas naciones, se sirven de la institución, los procesos y los agentes escolares. Se analiza el caso de España, concretamente el de los nacionalismos catalán, vasco y gallego, para mostrar que estos nuevos nacionalismos llegan a ser tan instrumentalizadores como el viejo nacionalismo unionista panespañol. Esto se ovserva con claridad en la imposición de las lenguas propias como lenguas vehiculares exclusivas, en la manipulación de la geografía y la historia o en el uso y abuso de los símbolos nacionalistas. Finalmente, se intenta explicar cómo y por qué en este proceso tiene lugar una colusión de intereses entre las fuerzas nacionalistas y la profesión docente.

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The politics of education : challenging multiculturalism, edited by Christos Kassimeris and Marios Vryonides, New York : Routledge, ©2011, ISBN: 9780415885140, 0415885140

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Contents:

Introduction / Christos Kassimeris and Marios Vryonides –
Politics and education / Christos Kassimeris and Marios Vryonides –
The politics of education: Challenging racial discrimination and disadvantage in education in the British context / Gill Crozier –
Combating ethnic educational disadvantage in the Netherlands: An analysis of policies and effects / Geert Driessen –
The expanded federal role in US public schools: The structural forces of globalization, immigration and demographic change / A. Gary Dworkin and Pamela F. Tobe –
Building the Nation at School: Spain’s tables turned / Mariano Fernández Enguita –
The politics of education in the post-war Germany: From Europeanized nationhood to multicultural citizenship? / Daniel Faas –
Multiculturalism, education practices and colonial legacies: The case of Canada / Neil Guppy and Katherine Lyon –
Educational politics and cultural diversity in Greece / Gitsa Kontogiannopoulou-Polydorides –
An ecological approach to understanding the development of racism in schools: A case-study of a Belgian secondary school / Peter Stevens –
Conclusion / Christos Kassimeris and Marios Vryonides.