The Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) and The World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES) - Leadership, Ambiguities and Synergies

Oct 15, 2026

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The Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) has provided sustained leadership during its 50-year history, including founding World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES) in 1970 in Ottawa. As WCCES expanded to encompass 35 societies by 2006, CIES remained central. The CIES–WCCES relationship features both ambiguities and synergies, shaping global promotion of comparative education. This article reviews their intertwined histories through a postmodern framework.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

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Abstract

Introduction

A postmodern view of comparative education societies

Knowledge production and power relations

The Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) and The World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES): Leadership, Ambiguities and Synergies Maria Manzon University of Hong Kong Mark Bray University of Hong Kong Abstract The Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) has, throughout its 50 years of existence, exercised leadership in the field of comparative education. It was oneof the five societies that founded the World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES) in 1970, an umbrella body that by 2006 brought together 35 national, subnational, regional and language-based societies. The CIES has continued to play a major role in WCCES affairs. The relationship has had ambiguities, while it has also provided many synergies for the promotion of the field of comparative education on a global basis. This article reviews the relationship between the CIES and the WCCES throughout their intertwined histories. Introduction The leadership role of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) has been multifaceted. One dimension of this role concerns the World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES), which was established in 1970 in Ottawa, Canada. The WCCES is an umbrella body that has grown over the decades and by 2006 brought together 35 national, sub-national, regional and language-based societies. When established, the WCCES had five member societies, of which the CIES was the oldest and largest. The CIES has continued to play a major role in WCCES affairs. The relationship has had ambiguities, which to some extent reflect broader patterns in academic and international affairs. On the other hand, it has also provided many synergies for the promotion of the field of comparative education on a global basis. This paper employs a postmodern framework to give a historical account of some major themes in the intertwined histories of the WCCES, the CIES and related bodies during the three and a half decades from 1970. It draws on materials collected for a set of histories of the WCCES and its constituent societies1. The paper begins by presenting further information on the period surrounding the establishment of the WCCES in 1970 before turning to issues of functioning and the ways in which the CIES and the WCCEShave related to each other in their various roles of promoting the field of comparative education. A postmodern view of comparative education societies A postmodern view of knowledge production gives importance to the socio-political context in which knowledge is shaped and to the roles of power relations in creating, legitimizing and circulating knowledge. McGovern (1999) applied this framework in © 2006 Current Issues in Comparative Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Current Issues in Comparative Education, Vol. 8 (2) 69 Maria Manzon and Mark Bray analyzing academic knowledge production in the field of comparative and international education. This paper adopts a similar approach. It takes Bourdieu’s (1966) concept of the intellectual field as a magnetic field made up of a system of power lines. The constituting agents or systems of agents may be described as so many forces which by their existence, opposition or combination, determine [the field’s] specific structure at a given moment in time. In return, each of these is defined by its particular position within this field from which it derives positional properties, and its functional weight, because its own “mass”, that is, its power (or better, its authority) in the field cannot be defined independently of its position within it (p.89) . The metaphor of an intellectual field is a useful way of viewing the domain of comparative education at a world system level. The institutionalization of comparative education as a field of study has diverse roots in different parts of the world. Thus Cowen (1990) referred to the “wide variations in the relati

FAQs

What role has the CIES played in comparative education over its history?

CIES has exercised sustained leadership in comparative education and has continued to play a major role in WCCES affairs.

How was WCCES established and what did it become by 2006?

WCCES was established in 1970 in Ottawa and grew into an umbrella body that brought together 35 societies by 2006.

What is the core argument about the CIES–WCCES relationship?

The relationship contains ambiguities while also generating synergies that support the global promotion of comparative education.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by OmBimo