Johnson, D. (Ed.) Politics, Modernisation and Educational Reform in Russia: From Past to Present.  Oxford, Symposium Books, 2010.  ISBN: 978-1-873927-41-0.  Pages: 176.

In the past two centuries, the higher education system of Russia has shifted in immense ways, mostly at the mercy of changing political and economic times.  Robert Harris, a tutor in the Department of Modern Languages at Oxford, has recently compiled a variety of Russian and British perspectives into this interesting anthology, specifically analyzing the factors that have shaped and driven change in Russian higher education.  More specifically, key topics of analysis include: the cultural and political dilemmas provoked by democratisation, the structural and policy challenges associated with reform of higher and vocational education, and the divisions of socio-cultural activity in contrast with new discourse of freedom and choice.  Overall, while the chapters of the book present the most important hurdles to progress in higher education in Russia, the lessons can be applied elsewhere as well.  This book is available through Symposium Books.

Symposium Books