Combining Global and Local Narratives: A New Social History of the Expansion of Mass Education?

Abstract

This article discusses how an increased interest in the global, the international and the cross-national may be informed by the recently renewed focus upon the social and economic history of education. The history of school buildings in a comparative framework offered here illustrates how such approaches also have important contributions to make to the study of international and cross-national phenomena. This article therefore makes a case for a social history turn in this field.

Introduction to the Special Issue: History of Education, International Relations and Transnational Perspectives: State of the Art

“…However, all of them recognize the importance of the phenomena of globalization (and the consequent internationalization) in the redefinition of national narratives about the orientation of educational systems. (Westberg, Boser & Brühwiler, 2019;Westberg, 2020).…”