Education Is Simply Sidestepping Them, Or, Everyday Strategies for Legitimizing Educational Inequalities
Education Is Simply Sidestepping Them, Or, Everyday Strategies for Legitimizing Educational Inequalities

Summary/Abstract: This article attempts to trace the tension between two visions of education in Bulgaria, namely education as a right and as a competitive resource. The article begins with an analysis of the relevant legislation and goes on to discuss its practical effects, reconstructed through fieldwork conducted under the project Educational Inequalities and Social Opportunities. Strategic Objectives of the Reforms in Bulgarian Secondary Education and Practical Results, financed by the Bulgarian National Science Fund at the Ministry of Education and Science. The author’s main thesis is that the two visions of education are in practice mutually contradictory. The analysis shows how certain social groups employ education as a distinctive and competitive resource and succeed in imposing their own interests on public policies. By responsibilizing families and fomenting ‘moral panic’ about ‘difficult children’, these groups legitimize educational inequalities, gradually undermine the idea of education as a mechanism for ensuring equal opportunities, and minimize the chances of implementing public policies oriented towards education as a right in Bulgaria.

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