A Space For Critical Research on Education Policy: ECER paper sessions and the 'Policy Studies and Politics of Education' network

The activities of EERA and the yearly ECER conferences are mainly organized in standing networks. Through the example of the network on Policy Studies and Politics of Education, this article takes a closer look at network activity and the ways in which it contributes to the development of educational research. Since most network activity is focused around the yearly conferences, the first part of the article discusses the conference session space, its forms and its links to the broader community of educational researchers. The second part of the article traces the origin and development of the network on Policy Studies and Politics of Education, emphasizing how the network has provided a space for critical analysis and discussion of education policies and forms of governance being pursued by national and trans-national actors in and beyond Europe.