Bordering and re-bordering in education: Introduction Christine Fox • Suzanne Majhanovich • Fatma Go ¨k Published online: 18 October 2011 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 The collection of papers appearing in this volume is an outcome of a gathering of some 1,500 academics and practitioners at the XIV World Congress of Comparative Education Societies, held at the prestigious University of Bog ˘azic ¸i in the city of Istanbul, Turkey. From 13 to 18 June 2010, the historic Congress celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES) since its foundation in 1970. Participants from more than 100 countries attended the Congress, and over 800 papers were presented. It was also an historic occasion for Istanbul and the co-hosts, the Turkish Comparative Education Society (T } UKED). As the designated European Capital of Culture for 2010, Istanbul city welcomed the event as a fitting celebration of Istanbul’s educational scholarship in a global presence. Bog ˘azic ¸i University is situated on a cliff top overlooking the Bosporus Strait, a stretch of water that geographically and historically has for many centuries ‘‘united and divided’’ Asia and Europe, the symbols of East and West. At the time of writing, such bordering of East and West is being challenged and contested, particularly in this turbulent political time for many neighbouring Middle Eastern countries. Indeed, in the week before the Congress was being held, Turkey faced a crisis of international proportions when nine Turkish citizens died as a result of the conflict that arose when a flotilla of boats carrying citizens from many countries headed toward Gaza but was intercepted by Israeli militants. The protests that C. Fox (&) Faculty of Education, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia e-mail: cfox@uow.edu.au S. Majhanovich Faculty of Education, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada e-mail: smajhano@uwo.ca F. Go ¨k Faculty of Education, Bog ˘azic ¸i University, Istanbul, Turkey e-mail: gokf@boun.edu.tr 123 Int Rev Educ (2011) 57:247–260 DOI 10.1007/s11159-011-9244-6