Education and gender in revolutionary societies: Insights from Vietnam, Nicaragua, and Eritrea

Based on the work of Bourdieu, this paper analyses how far formal education within a revolutionary setting can act as a 'strategy-generating' institution in terms of enabling women to aspire to and achieve goals they would not even have envisaged pre-revolution. In making its case, it draws on the examples of three revolutionary societies: Vietnam (since 1976), Nicaragua (1979-1990) and Eritrea (since 1991). It is argued that even though not eliminating gender as a discriminatory marker, education indeed creates room for personal emancipation. While this could equally be achieved by openings within a neo-liberal setting, a strong focus on fostering social cohesion makes educational policies in revolutionary societies different. The paper ends by arguing that revolutionary states can offer valuable lessons for education as a source of social equity. It advocates to newly consider what type of state supports what kind of education system and for what purpose.