Overview

Universities as Political Institutions explores the contested political spaces where universities reside in the crossroads of social, cultural, and economic pressures. Papers and keynotes from the 2017 Consortium of Higher Education Researchers (CHER) present various theoretical frameworks and methods to study universities as political institutions.

Full Product Details

9789004422568

Table of Contents

Reviews

The book questions the role of higher education institutions in a clear way, it emphasises the impact that institutions can have [on policy], but it also shows how some contexts can be restrictive for higher education institutions in what they can or want to do. It is a book that wonders implicitly about the neutrality of institutions and the contextuality of their ambitions, visions and aims. But above all, for me, the following conclusion is significant: Higher education is an important and powerful institution within society. It can initiate change, it can be the starting place for new discourse and it can carry critical movements. At the same time, it can prolong the status quo and smother opposition. - Bruno Broucker, Leuven Economics of Education Research This volume reprints 13 papers presented at the 2017 Consortium for Higher Educational Research conference, presented here in three parts. In part 1, Geo-Political Influences, covering the 1970s to the present, the first of four papers treats the global impact of macroeconomic and political developments on universities. The second chapter discusses the rising impact of populist nationalism on international student movement. Chapter 3 examines changes to higher education cooperation between China and Britain, and chapter 4 analyzes the ways in which Brexit reshaped British higher education. Part 2 begins with a keynote piece about advancing the conversation on the politics of higher education, followed by a chapter on the struggle to enact university reforms. Next, a case study examines efforts to protect reforms in a South African university; another does likewise for three Italian universities. Chapter 9 then considers non-university higher education in Japan. Finally, chapters in part 3 discuss inclusion and fairness in higher education, academic positions and gender in Switzerland and Finland, graduate employability, and the complexities facing West Bank universities. Complemented by illustrations and endnotes, though lacking an index, this collection is recommended for specialists only. - D. Steeples in CHOICE 58:6 (2021).

The book questions the role of higher education institutions in a clear way, it emphasises the impact that institutions can have [on policy], but it also shows how some contexts can be restrictive for higher education institutions in what they can or want to do. It is a book that wonders implicitly about the neutrality of institutions and the contextuality of their ambitions, visions and aims. But above all, for me, the following conclusion is significant: Higher education is an important and powerful institution within society. It can initiate change, it can be the starting place for new discourse and it can carry critical movements. At the same time, it can prolong the status quo and smother opposition. - Bruno Broucker, Leuven Economics of Education Research

Author Information

Leasa Weimer, PhD (2013), University of Georgia, USA, is Researcher at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland, and Assistant Director of Strategic Partnerships & Initiatives at Fulbright Finland Foundation. She has published peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, policy papers, and edited six books. Terhi Nokkala, PhD (2007), Tampere University, is Senior Researcher at the University of Jyvaskyla. She is an internationally published scholar, with editorial duties at European Journal of Higher Education and Internationalisation of Higher Education - Developments in the European Higher Education Area and Worldwide.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available