Classroom and Empire: The Politics of Schooling Russia's Eastern Nationalities, 1860-1917 by Wayne s> Dowler (review)

REVIEWS 36I of Lvov'sJan Kazimierz universityin the late I930s, and in the earlyattempts, recountedbyYudlMark,oftheJewish folkistmovement inpost-I9I9 Lithuania to develop a political modus vivendi with the new regime. Fullunderstandingof and sensitivityto each others' needs and aspirationsmay have alwaysbeen a bridgetoo farin the Polish-Jewishstorybut it has alwaysremained atthe heart of Polin'svision of what mighthave been. Towards the end of this volume Raphael ('Felek') Scharf offers a moving obituary to the writer Andrzej Szcypiorski who, like Kuron, went against the grain of denunciation and blackmail to seek to protect PolishJewry in the face of Hitler. In an earlier public exchange, Scharf received no thanks from Szcypiorskifor suggesting that the majorityof the Polishpopulation, far from being ready to help, were activelyhostileto theJews. Coming to gripswithallthecomplexityandtragedy of Polish-Jewish relations was always at the core of the gentle and noble Scharf's love for the country of his birth. Now that he is no more, his legacy throughPolinremainsallthemore importantand critical. Parkes Centrefor Jewish.Non-Jewish Relations MARKLEVENE University ofSouthampton Dowler, Wayne. Classroom andEmpire:ThePoliticsof Schooling Russia'sEastern Nationalities, i86o-I9I7. McGill-Queen'sUniversityPress,Montreal, Kingston, ON, London and Ithaca, NY, 2001. xiv + 296 pp. Notes. Tables. Bibliography.Index. J46.oo. SOCIETY is in great measure shaped and defined by its system of education. The more complex the society, the more difficultand challenging the task of formulating appropriateeducational strategies.Multiethnic societies present special problems. One important issue is the choice of the language in which tuition is offered what role, if any, should be given to the languages of minorities?To what extent shouldthe language of the majoritybe imposed on the population as a whole? Questions such as these have a fundamental bearing on national identity, social cohesion and systemichierarchiesin terms of status,employment and political representation. In the twenty-firstcenturyvirtuallyevery independent state in the world is confrontedwith theneed to resolveconflictinglinguisticand culturalpriorities. However, this is not a new situation. From the eighteenth century onwards, when the concept of universalschooling, linkedto the growth of urbanization and industrialization,began to gain ground in Europe, these questions have been a matter of debate. They acquired particular significance in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when European powers controlled large extra-territorial colonial empires, encompassing populations who spoke different languages, followed different faiths and had histories and cultures that were different from those of the 'mother country'. The promotion of Western-styleeducationin theseoverseaspossessionsraisedsensitivequestions regarding the relationship between rulers and ruled, including notions of culturalsuperiorityand the concept of a 'civilizingmission'. The tsaristempire had characteristicsthat in some ways set it apart from the British and other European colonial empires. However, in matters of 362 SEER, 82, 2, 2004 educational policy it faced many of the same problems. With the reforms of the i 86os came a growing awarenessof the need to provide education (albeit at a fairlyrudimentarylevel)forthe non-Russiansubjectsof the empire.Many were Muslims. Some the Tatars of the Volga region -had come under Russian rule several centuries earlier, while others in Kazakhstan and Central Asia had been incorporated into the empire more recently. The policies thatwere used in these differentregionswere not uniformand in some cases changed quite significantly over time. However, exposure to Russian education had a major impact on all these peoples and affectedfuture social and political developments. Wayne Dowler has produced a lucid and well researchedaccount of tsarist educational policies in 'the eastern territories',from the second half of the nineteenth centuryup to the outbreakof the I917 revolution.As evidenced by the extensive bibliography, he draws on an impressive range of archival materials and contemporary documents. The main geographic focus is the Volga region, where the population was religiouslymixed (Muslim,Orthodox Christian and pagan) and included Turkic peoples as well as a substantial Finnish population. Less space is devoted to Central Asia, but there are informative sections on Kazakh schools and schools in Turkestan.The work is prefaced by a succinct Introduction that provides a helpful contextual framework.There are nine chapters;these cover such themes as 'Conversion and Apostasy', 'Schooling Baptised Non-Russians and Pagans', 'Schooling Muslims', 'Pedagogy and Politics', and 'The Non-Russian School and the Dilemmas of Russian Nationalism'. The Conclusion summarizes the main arguments, reiteratingthe strengthsand weaknessesof the Russian approach...

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