This volume deals with core issues in the sociology of education. It explores the fields of comparative education, the history of schooling and the politics of education. What are the politics of comparison that shape education on the macro and micro levels? How do historical and professional discourses intertwine? How does history shape educational governance? How do the theories of Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu apply to contemporary education research? How can the education researcher of today best address questions of quality assurance and evaluation? The book is meant for researchers and advanced-level students. Given its general nature, it serves as a good introduction to contemporary research in the sociology, politics and history of education. The international reader will find the theoretical and empirical insights explored in the analysis of Finnish educational practice a fruitful platform for further study in other contexts. This Festschrift is in honour of the 60th birthday of Hannu Simola. The contributors are colleagues old and new from a variety of countries.