Transnational skills development in post-industrial knowledge economies: the case of Luxembourg and the Greater Region

Luxembourg exhibits strong transnational traits within its skills regime, defying any neat fit with existing educational typologies. It is characterised by its high-skill economy, cross-cultural characteristics, and central location within the European Union. As such, Luxembourg has developed a hybrid strategy of responding to labour market challenges, and by that, to skills development. Our institutionalist analysis finds that Luxembourg is involved in transnational skills development in three complementary ways: (a) employers in Luxembourg extensively recruit skilled workers at the European and global levels, but also (b) heavily rely on the distinct skills sets of cross-border commuters from the neighbouring regions of Belgium, France, and Germany (the Greater Region). Furthermore, (c) Luxembourg combines institutional elements of these neighbouring countries – representing distinct models of capitalism and welfare – within its own education system. In combining the specific strengths of different national skills regimes, institutional bricolage represents a core feature of Luxembourg’s highly stratified system of skill formation. Our analytical framework refers to two major comparative political economy perspectives, namely the welfare state and varieties of capitalism approaches, to analyse how Luxembourg has responded to deindustrialisation by creating a domestic transnational labour market.     

The Grand Duchy on the Grand Tour: a historical study of student migration in Luxembourg

Since Luxembourg became independent in 1839, practically the entire political, economic and intellectual elite of the country has been socialised abroad. It was only in 2003 that the Grand Duchy set up its own university; before then, young Luxembourgers had to study in foreign countries. Over the past 150 years, Luxembourg has thus experienced exceptionally lively student migration. This migration is almost unique in Europe; however, academic research has paid little attention to the consequences of the migration experience of whole student generations on Luxembourgish society. The data presented in this paper demonstrate that migration has opened up chances for participation and access to positions of social power, while at the same time the networks of students became an instrument of social exclusion. Thus, the migration experience over the past 150 years not only led to a strong degree of social–cultural cohesion within the national elite; paradoxically, international student mobility has also had deep effects on the preservation of national identity.     

Bilingual primary schools,decorative art and psychotechnics: Luxembourgian education at international exhibitions and congresses, 1870s–1930s

Building upon an expanding literature on world exhibitions and international conferences as vehicles for the transnational circulation of educational knowledge during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, this article discusses the participation of Luxembourg at these events. It focuses on three thematic strands: the representation of Luxembourgian education at world exhibitions during the late nineteenth century, when organisers showcased the allegedly advanced state of primary instruction; the activities of the director of the École d’artisans de l’État Antoine Hirsch who took the representation of Luxembourgian education into his hands during the first three decades of the twentieth century; and the Grand-Duchy’s participation in the Seventh Biennial Conference of the World Federation of Education Associations in Tokyo in 1937, when Luxembourgian education was first represented overseas. These episodes reflect the ongoing industrialisation of the country and the growing influence of the steel industry on the educational sector.     

Welcome or not? – Natives’ security feelings,attachment and attitudes toward acculturation of immigrants

Cultural diversity due to immigration has become a key topic in many societies today. The question of how the native population experiences these developments is of prime importance for intercultural relations and sets the base for acculturation of immigrants. Drawing on attachment and multiculturalism research, we supposed here that general and specific feelings of security might be related to more positive attitudes toward cultural diversity, whereas feelings of threat might be related to less openness. More precisely, the present study investigated how natives’ general attachment (secure or fearful) as well as their specific feelings of (cultural or economic) security might be related to their expectations about acculturation of immigrants in the multicultural context of Luxembourg. The sample included N = 134 Luxembourg nationals with an average age of M = 45.02 (SD = 17.41) who filled out an online questionnaire. Results revealed that self-reported fearful general attachment was positively related to more unwelcoming acculturation orientations. Relations between general attachment and acculturation orientations were mediated by feelings of cultural security, which had strong effects on host nationals’ (un)welcoming acculturation orientations over and above general attachment. Findings suggest that (un)welcoming orientations toward immigrants, entailing openness for cultural contact and exchange, are related to feelings of cultural and economic security which are partly biased by a general secure or fearful attachment. Feelings of security seem thus to provide a secure base for tolerance and openness to cultural diversity which are needed in order to deal successfully with the challenges of today’s multicultural societies.     

Attitudes towards multiculturalism in Luxembourg: Measurement invariance and factor structure of the Multicultural Ideology Scale

In the present study, we examined the dimensionality and the measurement invariance of the Multicultural Ideology Scale (MCI), and mean differences across different cultural groups within the multilingual, multicultural context of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is a unique context to study attitudes towards diversity because 47.4 % of the citizens are non-nationals (i.e. economic migrants, sojourners, refugees) and minority and majority are increasingly difficult to define. Our sample included 1488 participants from diverse ethnic backgrounds who completed the survey in German, French or English. In contrast to previous findings, our analyses on responses to the MCI scale produced a two-dimensional structure, distinguishing between positive and negative attitudes towards multiculturalism. The factor structure was partially invariant across ethnocultural groups: Configural and metric invariance were established across natives and non-natives and different language versions. Scalar invariance was only established across gender groups. Natives and male participants reported the most negative attitudes towards multiculturalism. We discuss the importance of assessing measurement invariance and provide recommendations to improve the assessment of psychological multiculturalism.     

Transnational strategies and lifelong learning in the shadow of citizenship: Chinese migrants in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

ABSTRACT

The Chinese are one of the oldest immigrant communities in Europe, and in some countries among the most economically successful. Media portraits of immigrant Chinese, however, are often filtered through racialised stereotypes, as culturally insular and economically savvy opportunists working in low-end take-outs, retails, and garment workshops. Based on ethnographic research conducted in a small European state Luxembourg, this article examines different modalities of learning and transnational strategies among three groups of Chinese migrants – temporary workers, visa overstayers, and restaurant owners. In analysing their pragmatic struggles, creative agency, and unending hopes for better lives, the paper illustrates how they engage in what Aihwa Ong calls the dual process of self-making and being made, vis-à-vis the Eurocentric citizenship regime, knowledge hierarchies, and exclusionary labour market. I offer a reading of their agentic, melodramatic everyday experiences as forms of lifelong learning, whether intended or unintended, that are rendered invisible and deficient in immigration laws, labour market practices, and sociocultural expectations. The paper challenges the Eurocentric citizenship regime and highlights immigrants’ heterogeneous ways of learning and transnational practices as part of the humanness often silenced in the global cycle of coloniality and inequality.     

政府竞争情报服务——卢森堡案例研究

卢森堡的国际竞争力位于世界前茅,这与竞争情报能力有关。其享利都铎研究中心下属的科技监测中心是欧洲最优秀的竞争情报服务机构之一。它以中小企业为服务重点,提供的服务包括知识产权管理、标准与规范咨询、科技监测以及培训;运作经费来自政府和市场;工作人员都有相关领域的专业背景,通过对外合作和对研究的不断投入提升服务能力,通过定期访问企业掌握市场动态。该科技监测中心的成功模式为我国政府的竞争情报服务提供了借鉴。     

What is meant by inclusion? On the effects of different definitions on attitudes toward inclusive education

ABSTRACT

Aiming to further our knowledge about what is meant by inclusion, we examined how various conceptualisations relate to people's attitudes about inclusive education. We assign the varying characterisations of inclusion of specific groups with differing involvement in the education system in Luxembourg, applying an influential systematisation of definitions of inclusion in which four qualitatively different categories are identified. Results of study 1 showed that members of the general population, pre-service and in-service teachers perceive inclusive education in importantly different ways. Although results showed relatively positive attitudes toward inclusive education for the whole sample, attitudes varied by group and in relation to the differential categorisation of definitions. As teachers' attitudes and the extent to which they feel prepared to implement inclusive practice are crucial for the success of inclusive education, the latter aspect is further investigated in study 2. Results showed that teachers with more in-depth understanding of inclusive education reported more positive attitudes and felt better prepared to implement inclusive practices. Implications for education systems and society are discussed.     

论罗莎·卢森堡的政党伦理思想及其当代价值

卢森堡的政党伦理思想产生的理论背景是马克思和列宁所强调的“为人类服务”的思想和民主问题。其政党伦理思想在政党的价值理念上就是无产阶级政党应代表和实现广大人民群众的根本利益。在政党的制度伦理上就是无产阶级政党应坚持党内民主集中制原则,并抵制党内官僚主义的泛滥,无产阶级党员特别是领袖应体现出良好的道德品行,这是政党党员伦理的集中说明。卢森堡的政党伦理思想在当代仍然有着极为重要的现实价值。