This volume of the Bristol Studies in Comparative and International Education is the first in the series to focus upon Central and Eastern Europe. The key theme of the book concerns the interplay between citizenship and education; and the contributors document and critically examine the role of education and participation in shaping citizenship practices throughout the region.

The book draws upon extensive experience and collective expertise in educational research and political science. This is informed by the findings of a range of recent, externally funded research projects in tune with our series rationale, that emphasize the importance of context-specific approaches for research and for ‘cultivating responsible and engaged citizens’. This, as the Editors emphasize, addresses a gap in the current literature and a lack of systematic, interdisciplinary research on citizenship practices in Central and Eastern Europe.

Citizenship is understood as a complex and contested concept and this pluralist orientation ‘recognizes that citizenship can assume different connotations depending on the context … and the diverse practices of citizenship that are evident in patterns of education, political participation and civil society’.

Together, the chapters cover a wide range of specific issues, in formal, non-formal, and informal education contexts, and reflect upon citizenship practices in organizational and political settings across a revealing mix of micro, meso, and macro levels. This generates comparative insights into the challenges and opportunities facing citizenship and democracy and, in doing so, provides a ‘nuanced understanding of the complex and contested nature of citizenship in the region’.