Sociology of Education: Outlines Towards a Diagnosis and Thoughts on Some Major Challenges

Sociology of education in Norway has traditionally been preoccupied with the classic problems related to education and the reproduction of social inequality. As the general social scientific and political focus on inequality decreased, the sociology of education also became less visible. At the same time, the sociology of youth evolved, and brought with it a shift from theories of reproduction towards theories of individualization and cultural detachment. New challenges for sociology of education are also discussed. These are related to the educational system's position as the main socialization arena for young people, as well as new developments within educational policy, and thus within school. What kind of identities are "produced" within the educational system? Keywords: sociology of educationsocial inequalitysociology of youthreproduction Notes 1While 9% of the articles published in the 1970s in this journal can be classified under the heading "education and inequality," this number decreased to 2–3% in the 1980s and 1990s, and the number remained low until the beginning of 2000. In the other main sociological journal in Norway, Sosiologisk tidsskrift, established in 1993, the number of articles on education and inequality was correspondingly low. 2Out of this 19%, almost half of the articles were quantitative presentations of recent statistics on issues connected to youth, published under the heading "New numbers about youth." Additional informationNotes on contributorsUnn-Doris Karlsen Bæck Unn-Doris Karlsen Bæck, Department of Education, University of Tromsø.