Representing the Russian Revolution in Prescribed Russian School History Textbooks

This article offers a new knowledge and insight into understanding the nexus between ideologies, the state, and nation-building—as depicted in transforming images of nation-building and historical understanding of the October 1917 Russian revolution in prescribed history textbooks in the Russian Federation (RF). Using discourse analysis, and historiography, the article examines critically the role of language and ideology in presenting historical narratives in explaining how do representations of the revolution by different historians, from diverse ideological backgrounds, compared to the depiction of the October Revolution of 1917, in Russian school textbooks. Classroom teachers and historians, using historiography, interpret the 1917 October revolution in Russia in different ways. These different interpretations reflect the way in which historical understanding and historical knowledge, influenced by dominant ideologies, are created in history. Current prescribed Russian history textbooks for senior secondary students, which are approved by the Ministry of Education and Science, now regard the Russian Revolution as a significant part of a foundation narrative, representing a re-invented new meta-narrative of nation-building in the RF.

Development Aid with Reciprocity: A Response to Imperialism and the Politics of Global Coloniality

This position paper seeks to identify the undermining of freedom and human rights, juxtaposed through the narrative of “so much ill and so little good” (Easterly, 2006) regarding traditional aid and cooperation. The hardships currently constructed by linear frameworks leave no space for countries to define their own developmental pathway. The inherent ideology of current constructs neglects local initiatives and freedom of action and needs to endorse humanistic dialogue or a shift in approach, rather than a radical change of content. This paper proposes a hybridised approach as a means to “restoring culture” in development for Development Aid with Reciprocity ‐the deepening of human rights in every sphere of development and increasing the voice of people. It is contended that development aid for reciprocity in direct relation to the benefit of assistance to the countries in question would provide a most positive approach to development.

Teachers Unions’ Leadership and Their Impact on Educational Reforms in Israel

This article examines the politics of the teacher unions in the education reforms in Israel. In particular, the impact of the Histadrut Hamorim (HH) and the Irgun Hamorim (IH) teacher unions in the three educational reforms that took place in the country, in the years 1968, 2008 and 2011 respectively, was analyzed. For this purpose, a systematic literature review on the topic was carried out. Firstly, the discourse about the teacher unions potential influence upon the education reform decision policies was studied. Secondly, the role of the teacher unions in the education policy reforms in Israel was examined from a historical perspective, with special reference to the two unions under consideration. In conclusion, our study revealed that the impact of the teacher unions upon the education policy formation relating to the reforms as suggested in this piece of work seemed to be concerned with the unions’ political and ideological attachment to the political party in power.

Human Rights Education and Social Cohesion in South Asia in times of COVID-19

Globalisations, economic, cultural and social change over the last four decades have affected the nature of the discourse in human rights education. The chapter explores human rights education research and the problematic relationship between human rights education and the state, against the background of globalisation, and economic, political, social and cultural factors. This article aims to link human rights international standards and institutions to grass-roots human rights culture and its impact on social cohesion in South Asia. It begins with an analysis of the nexus between human rights and social cohesion and draws attention to some ideas that complement both. It then analyses how international human rights standards and associated implementation machinery can be used to advance social cohesion around the world. The article critiques current social cohesion trends globally - with some references to Australia and South Asia and focuses on the role of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in advancing human rights culture.

The Wounded Prisoner: A Comparative Study on American and Vietnamese Students’ Perceptions of Moral Dilemmas

Throughout time, both American and Vietnamese educators have sought ways to teach both the complexity of war and the ability to teach contradicting views when presented in moral dilemmas. As the year's pass and political and economic relations between the two countries grow, the exploration of war-related moral dilemmas, which unfolded during the Vietnam War, is openly discussed and encouraged. Despite not directly affected by the war, students from both countries have differing interpretations, expressing an individual and potentially contradicting view and perception when presented in the form of a moral dilemma. This research intended to investigate how American and Vietnamese students’ reasons and reactions to a war-related moral dilemma through a fictional wartime scenario. Integrating the cognitive and affective domains through historical empathy, the study suggested that while both American and Vietnamese often selected morally ‘easy’ or popular choices amongst their peers, some students experienced great difficulty justifying their actions.

Rural Banditry in Northwest Nigeria Amidst a Global Pandemic: A Gender Perspective

Rural banditry in Nigeria’s northwest in recent years has made the zone a hotbed of violence. What started as localized disputes in the agro-pastoral sector in 2010 has today metamorphosed into an intractable crisis posing a major threat to national and regional security. Banditry in the zone is characterized by large scale killings, abductions, raids on communities, rape of women and girls and displacement of people and is exacerbated by collapse of governance and absence of law and order, injustice, porous borders and proliferation of Small and Light Weapons (SALWs) among others. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, banditry continues to take devastating tolls on its victims, especially women who are the most vulnerable in times of crisis. Women and girls face a double challenge of gender-based violence perpetrated by bandits and intimate partners during the global health crisis. The pervasiveness, intensity and intractability of banditry in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic is worrisome as it could make worse existing gender inequalities such as rape, transactional sex, child marriages, increase in the number of out-of-school girls and the practice of purdah. To address the conflict, a multi-approach involving all stakeholders in the conflict is recommended.

Globalisation in Education and Development in Africa

This chapter analyses the process of globalisation, with reference to social, cultural, economic and political dimensions affecting education and policy reforms in Africa. In this chapter, globalisation perceived to be a discursively constructed Grand Narrative. The chapter analyses the opportunities and challenges that globalisation offers to Africa. Education and policy reforms in Africa confront at least two enormous challenges. The first is to fulfil the knowledge and training tasks of the 21st century, offering universal basic education and secondary coverage. The second is to improve the quality of learning outcomes, social equity and cultural integration. Attainment of these new tasks will depend on the identified measures advocated by education policy makers. The chapter concludes that there needs to be a greater focus on socially transformative globalisation policies that provide security and equipping the nation state for the future.

Religious Humanitarianism and the Evolution of Sudan People’s Liberation Army (1990-2005)

During the Cold War, military and economic tensions between the US and the Soviet Union shaped the process of war in conflict regions in different parts of the world. The end of the Cold War in the early 1990s reshaped the balance of power in global politics, as new actors appeared on the global scene and global foreign policy shifted to mediating and providing humanitarian assistance in conflict regions zones. Humanitarianism became the method of conflict resolution, which provided humanitarian organizations, especially the religious ones among them, with the opportunity to have more influence in the outcomes of sociopolitical events occurring in the world. These dynamics impacted conflicts in Africa, especially within Sudan. This is because that era coincided with Sudan’s Second Civil War (1983-2005) between the Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Government of Sudan (GofS). During the Cold War, both the US and Russia intervened in the civil war in Sudan by providing military and economic assistance to different parties, but, again, in the post-Cold War era humanitarianism was used in relation to the civil war. Transnational religious organizations provided humanitarian assistance in the war-torn and drought-afflicted regions in Southern Sudan, and sought to help implement peace initiatives to end the war. The organizations included Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS), a consortium of UN agencies and NGOs1 which was created in 1989. In addition, transnational religious groups based in the United States and Canada such as the Christian Solidarity International (CSI), the Canadian Crossroads, Catholic Relief Service, Mennonite Central Committee and the Lutheran Church got involved in humanitarian relief in Sudan. The global focus on religious humanitarianism extended to Southern Sudan as the New Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC) was founded in 1989-1990 to coordinate the humanitarian assistance. Because SPLA has led the civil war on behalf of Southern Sudan and had suzerainty over territories there, the humanitarian organizations had to build relationships with the SPLA to deliver relief through Southern Sudan and negotiate peace initiatives. This article analyzes how the transnational activities of the religious humanitarian groups shaped the evolution of SPLA from 1990 to 2005, with a particular focus on the US and Canadian organizations. We will see that the organizations influenced SPLA in a manner that impacted the civil war both in positive and negative ways. The organizations were ambivalent as, on one hand, they aggravated the conflict and, on the other hand influenced the development of both Church and non-Church related peace initiatives. Their humanitarian work was intricate as the civil war itself became more complex due to political issues that involved slavery, and oil extraction in Southern Sudan by US and Canadian multinational oil companies. All the parties involved took action to help end the civil war, but they all sought to serve their own interests, which jeopardized the possibility of a lasting peace. Thus, the interpretation of that history provides ways to help solve the current armed conflict in South Sudan.