That Other Europe: The Conceptualization of Central and Eastern Europe in (Higher) Education Research from 1990 to 2000

Abstract

This paper endeavours to interrogate the early conceptualization of the notion of Central and Eastern Europe in the field of (higher) education by analysing the academic scholarship in (higher) education research from 1990 to 2000. The results of this analysis elucidate the emergence of Central and Eastern Europe as a research unit in the field of (higher) education. Central and Eastern Europe emerges as a conceptual cluster comprised of Central and Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Europe. A preliminary quantitative analysis of frequency of use of particular concept and country distribution showed that different terms were used interchangeably and the same countries were referred to as belonging to different regions. Close reading of the articles in the research corpus revealed that the regional cluster was conceptualized as a post-communist space which was unified by its unwillingly shared past or via the role it can play vis-à-vis the rest of Europe, or “the West”.