Ar galimas neoliberalus socialinis teisingumas? Lietuvos mokyklų tinklo optimizavimo interpretacijos ir patirtys
Can We Speak of Neoliberal Social Justice? Interpretations and Experiences of Reorganization of the School Network in Lithuania

Summary/Abstract: The paper focuses on perceptions of social justice in education as constructed in selected policy document and in interviews with members of schools with Lithuanian or Russian language of instruction in Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda. The paper investigates the perceptions of school network reorganization which started in early 2000s and was forced by demographic situation in the country when due to diminished number of pupils a number of schools in different regions faced the problem of survival. The first part of paper overviews selected theories on social justice and social justice in education (Fraser 1996 and 2007; Cribb, Gewirtz 2003; Vincent 2003a and 2003b) as well as research conducted on similar issues in different countries (Clarke 2012 and 2014; Wrigley 2008; Walkenhorst 2008) and Lithuania (Merkys et al 2005; Duoblienė 2010; Žalimienė et al, 2011; Petrušauskaitė 2014; Bartaševičius 2015a and 2015b). The second part of a paper focuses on the analysis of selected policy document, i.e. recommendations to municipalities on the process of school network reorganization prepared by the Ministry of Education and Science (LR ŠMM 2004). It argues that these recommendations incorporate the themes of equal opportunities, quality of education and economic efficiency, however, economic efficiency is the primary theme there and this echoes researchers’ findings in different contexts (Bartaševičius 2015a and 2015b; Liaasidou, Symeou 2016). The last part of the paper analyses the data of the qualitative fieldwork in three major cities of Lithuania when more than 30 interviews were conducted with members of schools with different language of instruction and representatives of municipalities. The informants who provide critique to the process of school network reorganization emphasize the unequal power relations between representatives of authorities and school communities, and prioritize community sustainence to economic efficiency. Social justice is referred to in selected policy documents and in interviews with oponents of these reforms, however both parties have different priorities and different understandings of just and non-just decisions. A number of international and Lithuanian studies report that neoliberal ideas are spreading globally and they make a huge impact on national policies of education (Wrigley 2008; Walkenhorst 2008; Clarke 2012; Bartaševičius 2015a and 2015b; Vaitekaitis 2016). The author would argue that these alternative bottom-up critical perspectives on globally spread and locally adopted policies must be taken into account by national and municipal authorities when framing and strategizing policies.

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