Rural Youth at the Crossroads

Kai A. Schafft is a professor of education and rural sociology at The Pennsylvania State University in the United States. His work focuses on the relationship between social and spatial inequalities and the relationship between the well-being of rural schools and the communities they serve. In 2015, he was a Fulbright Fellow at the Central European University’s Institute for Advanced Study, in Budapest, Hungary. Sanja Stanić is a professor of sociology at the University of Split, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, in Croatia. She has published one book and over 30 scientific articles and book chapters. Her research interests are in the sociology of space, children and youth, and consumption. Renata Horvatek received her Ph.D. in educational theory and policy with a dual title in comparative and international education at The Pennsylvania State University in the United States, where she currently works in the Office of Global Programs. Her research interests in youth political socialization stems from her own education and upbringing in Croatia, growing up during turbulent social transitions and events. Her other interests include minority education and citizenship formation in post-conflict societies. Annie Maselli is a doctoral candidate in education policy studies at The Pennsylvania State University in the United States. Having worked in schools across the globe, her research interests include the relationship among place, equity, and education and issues of educational access and spatial justice. Serving as a research affiliate with the Center on Rural Education and Communities, she is particularly interested in how rural schools can address issues of social inequity and community development.

List of figures vii

List of tables viii

List of contributors x

Acknowledgements xiv

Introduction: Rural youth and societies within post-socialist and transitional contexts 1

ANNIE MASELLI, KAI A. SCHAFFT, SANJA STANIĆ AND RENATA HORVATEK

1 Leaving the Croatian countryside: local context and rural youth aspirations 19

SANJA STANIĆ AND KAI A. SCHAFFT

2 Uneven demographic development within Croatia, 1950s–present: implications for rural quality of life and youth out-migration 37

SANJA KLEMPIĆ BOGADI AND SONJA PODGORELEC

3 Rural youth and school-based political socialization: the case of Croatia 53

RENATA HORVATEK

4 Sociocultural capital among rural youth in Croatia 74

MARIJA LONČAR, ZORANA ŠULJUG VUČICA, AND GORANA BANDALOVIĆ

5 Coming of age in the Czech countryside: life and educational transition contexts for rural youth 90

DOMINIK DVOŘÁK, SILVIE R. KUČEROVÁ, JAROSLAVA SIMONOVÁ, PETR MEYER, ZDENĚK KUČERA, AND JAN ŠMÍD

6 The contradictions of education in Russia: resilient and struggling schools in the context of rural depopulation and decline 115

ROMAN ZVYAGINTSEV, MARINA PINSKAYA, DAVID KONSTANTINOVSKIY, AND SERGEY KOSARETSKY

7 The case of Serbia: the orientations of rural young adults towards education, work, and emigration 137

DUŠAN MOJIĆ, IRENA PETROVIĆ, AND VERA BACKOVIĆ

8 Diverse migration processes of rural youth and young adults in Hungary 157

TIBOR FARKAS, EMESE BRUDER, DÓRA KOLTA, AND ILONA GERENCSÉR

9 Roma youth and on-the-ground implementation of Roma education policies in rural Romania 176

CODRINA CSESZNEK AND KAI A. SCHAFFT

10 Vietnamese youth, schools, and communities in transition: a decade after the administrative boundary extension of Hanoi 195

CHI NGUYEN

Conclusion: Rural people and places in transitional societies: leaning into an uncertain future 216

SANJA STANIĆ, RENATA HORVATEK, KAI A. SCHAFFT, AND ANNIE MASELLI

Index 231