My name is Hsuan and I am an Associate Professor and the Provost’s Chair in Public Policy and Global Affairs at NTU Singapore, where I joined as a Nanyang Assistant Professor in 2013.
In this chapter, we present our theoretical framework for studying knowledge alchemy – a generic ... more In this chapter, we present our theoretical framework for studying knowledge alchemy – a generic process of transforming mundane practices and policies of knowledge governance into competitive ones following imagined global gold standards and universal symbolic formulas. We argue that knowledge alchemy is prevalent around the world, informing national and institutional policies and practices on global competitiveness, higher education and innovation. Given how interdependent the world remains, knowledge alchemy is also embedded in transnational administration and steers global policy making. To understand contemporary national and transnational governance, it is thus essential to know how knowledge alchemy unfolds across multiple policy domains and sectors.
Policy studies has always been interested in analyzing and improving the sets of policy tools ado... more Policy studies has always been interested in analyzing and improving the sets of policy tools adopted by governments to correct policy problems and better understanding and improving processes of policy analysis and policy formulation in order to do so. Past studies have helped clarify the role of historical processes, policy capacities and design intentions in affecting policy formulation processes, and more recently in understanding how the bundling of multiple policy elements together to meet policy goals can be better understood and done. While this work has progressed, however, the discussion of what goals policy designs should serve remains disjointed. Here it is argued that a central goal, in fact, the central goal, of policy design is effectiveness. Effectiveness serves as the basic goal of any design, upon which is built other goals such as efficiency or equity.
The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 2023
Governments around the world have instrumentalised the idea of cities as innovation hubs in the d... more Governments around the world have instrumentalised the idea of cities as innovation hubs in the drive for economic competitiveness and governance of anticipated futures. Producers of global indicators have identified cities as key actors in the global competition for talent-a race for human capital taking place against rapid technological changes, and political and social disruptions. In this article, we examine the rise of global cities as innovation hubs and its role in tackling global challenges. Using qualitative content analysis and conceptual analysis of strategies from rival cities in Europe (Amsterdam vs Copenhagen) and Asia (Singapore vs Hong Kong), we unpack how future cities are articulated and constructed in the nexus of migration and knowledge policy. We find that global indicators are actively used to produce more 'robust futures' that shape policymaking and strategies of cities while delimiting alternatives and potential 'creative future visions' in addressing global challenges.
The growing importance of China as a major actor in international order has generated tremendous ... more The growing importance of China as a major actor in international order has generated tremendous interest among social scientists, but scholarly debates remain in their disciplinary confines. Our study connects existing international relations research on China and the Belt and Road Initiative with two concepts in higher education studies—knowledge power and knowledge diplomacy—to reveal the multi-faceted approach that China applies towards its “outward oriented” internationalization activities in the knowledge domain. By studying two instances of university alliance-building through the Belt and Road Initiative, an empirically less examined area in both international relations and higher education studies, we demonstrate how China embraces a knowledge diplomacy approach in the case of the University Alliance of the Silk Road and knowledge power in the case of the Asian Universities Alliance. We argue that the co-existence of the two approaches points to the aim of China’s multi faceted approach to its external relations in the knowledge domain. By combining alternative organizational structures and logics embodied in different university alliances, this approach presents a non-hegemonic attempt to normalize China’s network centrality in an interdependent world. We conclude that China’s Belt and Road Initiative university alliance-building efforts should open up a rich analytical space that encourages further exploration through a world-centered tianxia heuristic.
Prepared for Administrative Theory & Praxis 45(2), 2023
This paper outlines an agenda for overcoming methodological nationalism in contemporary public ad... more This paper outlines an agenda for overcoming methodological nationalism in contemporary public administration studies. Our agenda reflects an acknowledgement of diverse lived administrative experiences around the world. Such experiences are the results of local administrative conditions and their interaction with transnational pressures and crossborder activities that transform the administrative landscape over time. However, the hegemonic intellectualism prevalent in American public administration studies has legitimized only a few experiences worthy of attention. Our proposed agenda starts with this baseline observation and advocates taking two bold steps to challenge this hegemonic intellectualism. First, it is essential to recognize the empirical and theoretical vacuum in public administration studies concerning how "beyond the state" activities configure and reconfigure national and local administration and policy. Second, taking a step towards intellectual pluralism, it is fruitful to recognize that connecting with those pushing research on transnational administration and global policy could benefit the discipline. We conclude by describing how the articles in this special issue connect with this agenda.
Research on return migration has tended to focus their analyses on two imagined places: a host co... more Research on return migration has tended to focus their analyses on two imagined places: a host country where they used to live, and an origin country where they must reintegrate after a long period of being away. This paper reveals how spaces within the city can undermine the reintegration of former migrants seeking to reestablish themselves in their home countries. Based on in-depth interviews with 25 Singaporean academics, we discuss how the priorities of globally oriented universities can impact the reintegration of highly skilled returnees within their home city. Specifically, this paper reveals how returnees face the challenge of negotiating two conflicting demands upon their return home. As academics, they must adhere to the needs of their fast-changing universities, where the pressures of world rankings demand "global impact" through research and publications. Yet, as Singaporean citizens, they also face expectations to fulfill the responsibilities of being "home" in their city, juggling calls for national service and community outreach among local university faculty. We examine the conflict between these two demands as an understudied factor that shapes migration flows into Asia's global cities.
In this article, we examine the politics of on-demand food delivery using insights from the theor... more In this article, we examine the politics of on-demand food delivery using insights from the theory of social construction and policy design. On-demand food delivery is a service built on algorithm-based technology known for its precarity and physical risks for couriers. We compare how the on-demand food delivery sector is regulated and its observable effects in two Asia-Pacific cities with contrasting food courier profiles: Melbourne, Australia (international students), and Singapore (citizens, permanent residents). We show how the social construction of food couriers in other policy subsystems (migration, higher education, citizenship) affects debates of their fair treatment in the on-demand food delivery sector. By interrogating the politics of digitally enabled versions of reality, we argue for embracing a design perspective to identify how reforms could be introduced in change-resistant sectors.
We compare Germany and Singapore to see how their approaches towards talent migration governance ... more We compare Germany and Singapore to see how their approaches towards talent migration governance have evolved in the last decade and whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected these developments. Building on the Highly-Skilled Immigration Index (HSII) (Cerna & Chou, 2014), our discussions show Germany becoming very welcoming of high-skilled labor migrants, and Singapore becoming increasingly selective in which labor migrants it admits into the City State. Our findings reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic has not changed the direction of policies in Germany and Singapore, but it has affected talent migration rates.
In this article, we introduce the concept of methodological Americanism to describe and explain t... more In this article, we introduce the concept of methodological Americanism to describe and explain the epistemological problem plaguing the public administration discipline. We argue that the discipline, dominated by US-focused analyses, is methodologically nationalist and White and represents a hegemonic intellectualism that limits what is “knowable.” To ensure continual disciplinary relevance of public administration studies, we propose that epistemological diversity—achievable by reshaping the disciplinary table—is the way forward. We conclude by summarizing how the articles in this first of two Special Issues contribute to paving the way toward epistemological diversity.
In this introduction, we introduce the concept of methodological Americanism to describe and expl... more In this introduction, we introduce the concept of methodological Americanism to describe and explain the epistemological problem plaguing the public administration discipline. We argue that the discipline, dominated by US-focused analyses, is methodologically nationalist and White and represents a hegemonic intellectualism that limits what is "knowable." To ensure continual disciplinary relevance of public administration studies, we propose that epistemological diversity-achievable by reshaping the disciplinary table-is the way forward. We conclude by summarizing how the articles in this first of two Special Issues contribute to paving the way toward epistemological diversity.
Taking the migration-higher education nexus as an analytical entry point,
we address the question... more Taking the migration-higher education nexus as an analytical entry point, we address the question: How can we account for different internationalisation outcomes? We focus on three actors involved in the global race to internationalise higher education activities: higher education institutions (HEIs), states, and migrants. We argue that the migration-higher education nexus enables us to begin describing and explaining differences in internationalisation outcomes (i.e. greater, limited, or none) by focussing our empirical attention on the interaction between HEI internationalisation strategies, state policies, and migrant agency to move/stay. We delineate various configurations of these interactions and how they determine internationalisation outcomes.
US universities continue to loom large in the worlds of higher education today. They consistently... more US universities continue to loom large in the worlds of higher education today. They consistently top many global university rankings and attract international students and faculty from around the world. In Making the World Global: US Universities and the Production of the Global Imaginary, Isaac Kamola tells a compelling story about how US universities produced academic knowledge that became self-referential and embedded in the very language we use to articulate about our social, economic, and political environments. The implications are clear. How we engage and study the world is inherently political. In this intervention, I want to address two themes Kamola put forth in his opening statement. First, “whether one could write a similar book…about how universities participate in the reproduction of the world” through another perspective than globalization. I will show that this is indeed possible by situating the findings from Seeing the World: How US Universities Make Knowledge in a Global Era in the context of Making the World Global. I argue that, when read together, Seeing the World and Making the World Global weave a revealing tapestry of the impressive role US universities played in shaping the worlds of higher education today. The second theme I want to engage with is the academics vs. politics divide that inspired Kamola to write Making the World Global. My intention is to support Kamola’s observation that academics/politics is very much a false dichotomy and the time is ripe to apply academic rigor to its unmasking; I will do so from the perspective of academic time.
Increasing competition among research universities has spurred a race to recruit academic labor t... more Increasing competition among research universities has spurred a race to recruit academic labor to staff research teams, graduate programs, and laboratories. Yet, often ignored is how such efforts entail negotiating a pervasive hierarchy of universities, where elite institutions in the West continue to attract the best students and researchers across the world. Based on qualitative interviews with 59 Singapore-based faculty, this paper demonstrates how migrant academics in competitive universities outside the West take on the burden of seeking other ways of attracting academic labor into their institutions, often resorting to ethnic and transnational ties to circumvent limits imposed by a hierarchical higher education landscape. Those unable to utilize these transnational strategies are less likely to maintain the pace of productivity expected by their institutions, heightening anxieties regarding tenure and promotion. In examining the Singapore case, this paper reveals the disjunctures between the increasing pressures of growing universities eager to compete in a global higher education system, and the everyday realities of academic production within these institutions.
This article seeks to contribute to the existing scholarship on academic mobility in two ways. Fi... more This article seeks to contribute to the existing scholarship on academic mobility in two ways. First, it brings together insights on academic mobility (aspirations, desperations) and higher education internationalisation to show how we may analytically organise these insights to shed light on the shifting global higher education landscape from an experi-ential perspective. Second, it provides fresh data on the 'lived experiences' of mobile faculty members based in an attractive academic destination outside of the traditional knowledge cores-Singapore. As a city state without any natural resources, Singapore has successfully transformed its economy into one that is knowledge-intensive based on combined efforts from grooming locals to recruiting foreign talents to shore up skilled manpower needs. These efforts are reflected in the university sector where Singapore's comprehensive universities have consistently ranked high across many global university rankings. Using survey and interview data, I show how the mobility and immobility experiences of faculty based in Singapore have contributed to its making as a 'sticky' and 'slippery' academic destination. My contributions point to the need to integrate individual-level factors underpinning academic mobility decisions with systemic developments to better understand the changing global higher education landscape today.
Countries have developed a variety of policies to attract and retain foreign talents who bring mu... more Countries have developed a variety of policies to attract and retain foreign talents who bring multiple benefits to the host country, including knowledge assets and international network. It is in their interest if the talents contribute both to the development of local research community while continuing the connection with international community. Using a sample of highly mobile academics in Singapore, the study tracks the evolution of domestic and international collaboration after an international career move. In particular, the study examines the change in research collaboration in the current host country in comparison to collaboration with prior host countries. By analyzing the bibliometric, survey and profile data of 378 faculty members, we found that domestic collaboration increases quickly after a scholar moves to a new country, but this increase is at a cost of decreasing international collaboration. Collaboration with prior countries remains but gradually fades out after the move.
Studies of regionalism—intra and comparative regionalism—have often used the European experience ... more Studies of regionalism—intra and comparative regionalism—have often used the European experience to explain the emergence and evolution of regionalisms in other parts of the world. This tendency in approaching the European experience as explanatory has permeated sector-specific developments. In this article, we consider the developments in higher education to examine the purported influence that Europe’s Bologna Process has had on other regional initiatives. Taking the case of the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA), we delineate the narratives from the actors involved in this initiative to show how they initially perceived and conceptualised higher education cooperation in the Asia region. Applying Chou and Ravinet’s (2015) higher education regionalism framework, we show how AUA actors designed higher education regionalism in Asia independent from Europe’s influence. We conclude with the potential implications that AUA’s emergence has for Europe, taking into consideration the growing influence of China in developing higher education regionalisms in Asia.
Taking the case of defining " talent, " a term that has been widely used but its definitions diff... more Taking the case of defining " talent, " a term that has been widely used but its definitions differ by discipline, organization, policy sector, as well as over time, we demonstrate how the basic definition of a policy subject may affect policy design and the assessment of policy outcomes. We review how " talent " is defined in two sets of literature, talent management and migration studies, and find that definitions fall under one of two categories: binary (" talent " as qualities) or composite (" talent " as a relational concept). The implications of our findings are epistemological and ontological; the findings point to diverse epistemological effects of definitions through developments of indicators, as expected, and they also reveal the policy designers' ontological starting points. Ontological perspectives are significant because they ultimately determine whether the policy assessments carried out differ in degrees or in kind. In the case of defining " talent, " this means determining which objectives the designers would set (e.g., recruiting vs. cultivating vs. introducing competition), the policy instrumentation for achieving the goals (migration measures vs. education vs. lifelong learning vs. human resource policy), and the type of assessment for measuring policy outcomes (single vs. multiple indicators, qualitative vs. quantitative).
Taking the case of defining " talent, " a term that has been widely used but its definitions diff... more Taking the case of defining " talent, " a term that has been widely used but its definitions differ by discipline, organization, policy sector, as well as over time, we demonstrate how the basic definition of a policy subject may affect policy design and the assessment of policy outcomes. We review how " talent " is defined in two sets of literature, talent management and migration studies, and find that definitions fall under one of two categories: binary (" talent " as qualities) or composite (" talent " as a relational concept). The implications of our findings are epistemological and ontological; the findings point to diverse epistemological effects of definitions through developments of indicators, as expected, and they also reveal the policy designers' ontological starting points. Ontological perspectives are significant because they ultimately determine whether the policy assessments carried out differ in degrees or in kind. In the case of defining " talent, " this means determining which objectives the designers would set (e.g., recruiting vs. cultivating vs. introducing competition), the policy instrumentation for achieving the goals (migration measures vs. education vs. lifelong learning vs. human resource policy), and the type of assessment for measuring policy outcomes (single vs. multiple indicators, qualitative vs. quantitative).
This paper investigates the migration of Asia-born academics from traditional centers in the West... more This paper investigates the migration of Asia-born academics from traditional centers in the West to Singapore, a rapidly developing education hub in Southeast Asia. We argue that such movement can be seen as a form of quasi-return, where migrant faculty look for places where they can be “close enough” to aging parents and family, while working in an institution that is “good enough” to continue research work. This position leads to conflicting notions of social mobility, when defined in terms of professional prestige and status. While interviewees perceived their move to Singapore as a form of upward mobility when compared to colleagues within their home countries, they simultaneously worried about their downward mobility compared to peers who had remained in the West. Such perceptions shape their decision to leave Singapore in the future, reinforcing current university hierarchies, where institutions in the USA and Europe continue to dominate notions of academic prestige.
This article investigates the factors that shape how migrant academics engage with fellow scholar... more This article investigates the factors that shape how migrant academics engage with fellow scholars within their countries of origin. We focus specifically on the mobility of Asian-born faculty between Singapore, a fast-developing education hub in Southeast Asia, and their 'home' countries within the region. Based on qualitative interviews with 45 migrant academics, this article argues that while education hubs like Singapore increase the possibility of brain circulation within Asia, epistemic differences between migrant academics and home country counterparts make it difficult to establish long-term collaboration for research. Singapore institutions also look to the West in determining how research work is assessed for tenure and promotion, encouraging Singapore-based academics to focus on networking with colleagues and peers based in the US and Europe rather than those based in origin countries. Such conditions undermine the positive impact of academic mobility between Singapore and surrounding countries within the region.
In this chapter, we present our theoretical framework for studying knowledge alchemy – a generic ... more In this chapter, we present our theoretical framework for studying knowledge alchemy – a generic process of transforming mundane practices and policies of knowledge governance into competitive ones following imagined global gold standards and universal symbolic formulas. We argue that knowledge alchemy is prevalent around the world, informing national and institutional policies and practices on global competitiveness, higher education and innovation. Given how interdependent the world remains, knowledge alchemy is also embedded in transnational administration and steers global policy making. To understand contemporary national and transnational governance, it is thus essential to know how knowledge alchemy unfolds across multiple policy domains and sectors.
Policy studies has always been interested in analyzing and improving the sets of policy tools ado... more Policy studies has always been interested in analyzing and improving the sets of policy tools adopted by governments to correct policy problems and better understanding and improving processes of policy analysis and policy formulation in order to do so. Past studies have helped clarify the role of historical processes, policy capacities and design intentions in affecting policy formulation processes, and more recently in understanding how the bundling of multiple policy elements together to meet policy goals can be better understood and done. While this work has progressed, however, the discussion of what goals policy designs should serve remains disjointed. Here it is argued that a central goal, in fact, the central goal, of policy design is effectiveness. Effectiveness serves as the basic goal of any design, upon which is built other goals such as efficiency or equity.
The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 2023
Governments around the world have instrumentalised the idea of cities as innovation hubs in the d... more Governments around the world have instrumentalised the idea of cities as innovation hubs in the drive for economic competitiveness and governance of anticipated futures. Producers of global indicators have identified cities as key actors in the global competition for talent-a race for human capital taking place against rapid technological changes, and political and social disruptions. In this article, we examine the rise of global cities as innovation hubs and its role in tackling global challenges. Using qualitative content analysis and conceptual analysis of strategies from rival cities in Europe (Amsterdam vs Copenhagen) and Asia (Singapore vs Hong Kong), we unpack how future cities are articulated and constructed in the nexus of migration and knowledge policy. We find that global indicators are actively used to produce more 'robust futures' that shape policymaking and strategies of cities while delimiting alternatives and potential 'creative future visions' in addressing global challenges.
The growing importance of China as a major actor in international order has generated tremendous ... more The growing importance of China as a major actor in international order has generated tremendous interest among social scientists, but scholarly debates remain in their disciplinary confines. Our study connects existing international relations research on China and the Belt and Road Initiative with two concepts in higher education studies—knowledge power and knowledge diplomacy—to reveal the multi-faceted approach that China applies towards its “outward oriented” internationalization activities in the knowledge domain. By studying two instances of university alliance-building through the Belt and Road Initiative, an empirically less examined area in both international relations and higher education studies, we demonstrate how China embraces a knowledge diplomacy approach in the case of the University Alliance of the Silk Road and knowledge power in the case of the Asian Universities Alliance. We argue that the co-existence of the two approaches points to the aim of China’s multi faceted approach to its external relations in the knowledge domain. By combining alternative organizational structures and logics embodied in different university alliances, this approach presents a non-hegemonic attempt to normalize China’s network centrality in an interdependent world. We conclude that China’s Belt and Road Initiative university alliance-building efforts should open up a rich analytical space that encourages further exploration through a world-centered tianxia heuristic.
Prepared for Administrative Theory & Praxis 45(2), 2023
This paper outlines an agenda for overcoming methodological nationalism in contemporary public ad... more This paper outlines an agenda for overcoming methodological nationalism in contemporary public administration studies. Our agenda reflects an acknowledgement of diverse lived administrative experiences around the world. Such experiences are the results of local administrative conditions and their interaction with transnational pressures and crossborder activities that transform the administrative landscape over time. However, the hegemonic intellectualism prevalent in American public administration studies has legitimized only a few experiences worthy of attention. Our proposed agenda starts with this baseline observation and advocates taking two bold steps to challenge this hegemonic intellectualism. First, it is essential to recognize the empirical and theoretical vacuum in public administration studies concerning how "beyond the state" activities configure and reconfigure national and local administration and policy. Second, taking a step towards intellectual pluralism, it is fruitful to recognize that connecting with those pushing research on transnational administration and global policy could benefit the discipline. We conclude by describing how the articles in this special issue connect with this agenda.
Research on return migration has tended to focus their analyses on two imagined places: a host co... more Research on return migration has tended to focus their analyses on two imagined places: a host country where they used to live, and an origin country where they must reintegrate after a long period of being away. This paper reveals how spaces within the city can undermine the reintegration of former migrants seeking to reestablish themselves in their home countries. Based on in-depth interviews with 25 Singaporean academics, we discuss how the priorities of globally oriented universities can impact the reintegration of highly skilled returnees within their home city. Specifically, this paper reveals how returnees face the challenge of negotiating two conflicting demands upon their return home. As academics, they must adhere to the needs of their fast-changing universities, where the pressures of world rankings demand "global impact" through research and publications. Yet, as Singaporean citizens, they also face expectations to fulfill the responsibilities of being "home" in their city, juggling calls for national service and community outreach among local university faculty. We examine the conflict between these two demands as an understudied factor that shapes migration flows into Asia's global cities.
In this article, we examine the politics of on-demand food delivery using insights from the theor... more In this article, we examine the politics of on-demand food delivery using insights from the theory of social construction and policy design. On-demand food delivery is a service built on algorithm-based technology known for its precarity and physical risks for couriers. We compare how the on-demand food delivery sector is regulated and its observable effects in two Asia-Pacific cities with contrasting food courier profiles: Melbourne, Australia (international students), and Singapore (citizens, permanent residents). We show how the social construction of food couriers in other policy subsystems (migration, higher education, citizenship) affects debates of their fair treatment in the on-demand food delivery sector. By interrogating the politics of digitally enabled versions of reality, we argue for embracing a design perspective to identify how reforms could be introduced in change-resistant sectors.
We compare Germany and Singapore to see how their approaches towards talent migration governance ... more We compare Germany and Singapore to see how their approaches towards talent migration governance have evolved in the last decade and whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected these developments. Building on the Highly-Skilled Immigration Index (HSII) (Cerna & Chou, 2014), our discussions show Germany becoming very welcoming of high-skilled labor migrants, and Singapore becoming increasingly selective in which labor migrants it admits into the City State. Our findings reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic has not changed the direction of policies in Germany and Singapore, but it has affected talent migration rates.
In this article, we introduce the concept of methodological Americanism to describe and explain t... more In this article, we introduce the concept of methodological Americanism to describe and explain the epistemological problem plaguing the public administration discipline. We argue that the discipline, dominated by US-focused analyses, is methodologically nationalist and White and represents a hegemonic intellectualism that limits what is “knowable.” To ensure continual disciplinary relevance of public administration studies, we propose that epistemological diversity—achievable by reshaping the disciplinary table—is the way forward. We conclude by summarizing how the articles in this first of two Special Issues contribute to paving the way toward epistemological diversity.
In this introduction, we introduce the concept of methodological Americanism to describe and expl... more In this introduction, we introduce the concept of methodological Americanism to describe and explain the epistemological problem plaguing the public administration discipline. We argue that the discipline, dominated by US-focused analyses, is methodologically nationalist and White and represents a hegemonic intellectualism that limits what is "knowable." To ensure continual disciplinary relevance of public administration studies, we propose that epistemological diversity-achievable by reshaping the disciplinary table-is the way forward. We conclude by summarizing how the articles in this first of two Special Issues contribute to paving the way toward epistemological diversity.
Taking the migration-higher education nexus as an analytical entry point,
we address the question... more Taking the migration-higher education nexus as an analytical entry point, we address the question: How can we account for different internationalisation outcomes? We focus on three actors involved in the global race to internationalise higher education activities: higher education institutions (HEIs), states, and migrants. We argue that the migration-higher education nexus enables us to begin describing and explaining differences in internationalisation outcomes (i.e. greater, limited, or none) by focussing our empirical attention on the interaction between HEI internationalisation strategies, state policies, and migrant agency to move/stay. We delineate various configurations of these interactions and how they determine internationalisation outcomes.
US universities continue to loom large in the worlds of higher education today. They consistently... more US universities continue to loom large in the worlds of higher education today. They consistently top many global university rankings and attract international students and faculty from around the world. In Making the World Global: US Universities and the Production of the Global Imaginary, Isaac Kamola tells a compelling story about how US universities produced academic knowledge that became self-referential and embedded in the very language we use to articulate about our social, economic, and political environments. The implications are clear. How we engage and study the world is inherently political. In this intervention, I want to address two themes Kamola put forth in his opening statement. First, “whether one could write a similar book…about how universities participate in the reproduction of the world” through another perspective than globalization. I will show that this is indeed possible by situating the findings from Seeing the World: How US Universities Make Knowledge in a Global Era in the context of Making the World Global. I argue that, when read together, Seeing the World and Making the World Global weave a revealing tapestry of the impressive role US universities played in shaping the worlds of higher education today. The second theme I want to engage with is the academics vs. politics divide that inspired Kamola to write Making the World Global. My intention is to support Kamola’s observation that academics/politics is very much a false dichotomy and the time is ripe to apply academic rigor to its unmasking; I will do so from the perspective of academic time.
Increasing competition among research universities has spurred a race to recruit academic labor t... more Increasing competition among research universities has spurred a race to recruit academic labor to staff research teams, graduate programs, and laboratories. Yet, often ignored is how such efforts entail negotiating a pervasive hierarchy of universities, where elite institutions in the West continue to attract the best students and researchers across the world. Based on qualitative interviews with 59 Singapore-based faculty, this paper demonstrates how migrant academics in competitive universities outside the West take on the burden of seeking other ways of attracting academic labor into their institutions, often resorting to ethnic and transnational ties to circumvent limits imposed by a hierarchical higher education landscape. Those unable to utilize these transnational strategies are less likely to maintain the pace of productivity expected by their institutions, heightening anxieties regarding tenure and promotion. In examining the Singapore case, this paper reveals the disjunctures between the increasing pressures of growing universities eager to compete in a global higher education system, and the everyday realities of academic production within these institutions.
This article seeks to contribute to the existing scholarship on academic mobility in two ways. Fi... more This article seeks to contribute to the existing scholarship on academic mobility in two ways. First, it brings together insights on academic mobility (aspirations, desperations) and higher education internationalisation to show how we may analytically organise these insights to shed light on the shifting global higher education landscape from an experi-ential perspective. Second, it provides fresh data on the 'lived experiences' of mobile faculty members based in an attractive academic destination outside of the traditional knowledge cores-Singapore. As a city state without any natural resources, Singapore has successfully transformed its economy into one that is knowledge-intensive based on combined efforts from grooming locals to recruiting foreign talents to shore up skilled manpower needs. These efforts are reflected in the university sector where Singapore's comprehensive universities have consistently ranked high across many global university rankings. Using survey and interview data, I show how the mobility and immobility experiences of faculty based in Singapore have contributed to its making as a 'sticky' and 'slippery' academic destination. My contributions point to the need to integrate individual-level factors underpinning academic mobility decisions with systemic developments to better understand the changing global higher education landscape today.
Countries have developed a variety of policies to attract and retain foreign talents who bring mu... more Countries have developed a variety of policies to attract and retain foreign talents who bring multiple benefits to the host country, including knowledge assets and international network. It is in their interest if the talents contribute both to the development of local research community while continuing the connection with international community. Using a sample of highly mobile academics in Singapore, the study tracks the evolution of domestic and international collaboration after an international career move. In particular, the study examines the change in research collaboration in the current host country in comparison to collaboration with prior host countries. By analyzing the bibliometric, survey and profile data of 378 faculty members, we found that domestic collaboration increases quickly after a scholar moves to a new country, but this increase is at a cost of decreasing international collaboration. Collaboration with prior countries remains but gradually fades out after the move.
Studies of regionalism—intra and comparative regionalism—have often used the European experience ... more Studies of regionalism—intra and comparative regionalism—have often used the European experience to explain the emergence and evolution of regionalisms in other parts of the world. This tendency in approaching the European experience as explanatory has permeated sector-specific developments. In this article, we consider the developments in higher education to examine the purported influence that Europe’s Bologna Process has had on other regional initiatives. Taking the case of the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA), we delineate the narratives from the actors involved in this initiative to show how they initially perceived and conceptualised higher education cooperation in the Asia region. Applying Chou and Ravinet’s (2015) higher education regionalism framework, we show how AUA actors designed higher education regionalism in Asia independent from Europe’s influence. We conclude with the potential implications that AUA’s emergence has for Europe, taking into consideration the growing influence of China in developing higher education regionalisms in Asia.
Taking the case of defining " talent, " a term that has been widely used but its definitions diff... more Taking the case of defining " talent, " a term that has been widely used but its definitions differ by discipline, organization, policy sector, as well as over time, we demonstrate how the basic definition of a policy subject may affect policy design and the assessment of policy outcomes. We review how " talent " is defined in two sets of literature, talent management and migration studies, and find that definitions fall under one of two categories: binary (" talent " as qualities) or composite (" talent " as a relational concept). The implications of our findings are epistemological and ontological; the findings point to diverse epistemological effects of definitions through developments of indicators, as expected, and they also reveal the policy designers' ontological starting points. Ontological perspectives are significant because they ultimately determine whether the policy assessments carried out differ in degrees or in kind. In the case of defining " talent, " this means determining which objectives the designers would set (e.g., recruiting vs. cultivating vs. introducing competition), the policy instrumentation for achieving the goals (migration measures vs. education vs. lifelong learning vs. human resource policy), and the type of assessment for measuring policy outcomes (single vs. multiple indicators, qualitative vs. quantitative).
Taking the case of defining " talent, " a term that has been widely used but its definitions diff... more Taking the case of defining " talent, " a term that has been widely used but its definitions differ by discipline, organization, policy sector, as well as over time, we demonstrate how the basic definition of a policy subject may affect policy design and the assessment of policy outcomes. We review how " talent " is defined in two sets of literature, talent management and migration studies, and find that definitions fall under one of two categories: binary (" talent " as qualities) or composite (" talent " as a relational concept). The implications of our findings are epistemological and ontological; the findings point to diverse epistemological effects of definitions through developments of indicators, as expected, and they also reveal the policy designers' ontological starting points. Ontological perspectives are significant because they ultimately determine whether the policy assessments carried out differ in degrees or in kind. In the case of defining " talent, " this means determining which objectives the designers would set (e.g., recruiting vs. cultivating vs. introducing competition), the policy instrumentation for achieving the goals (migration measures vs. education vs. lifelong learning vs. human resource policy), and the type of assessment for measuring policy outcomes (single vs. multiple indicators, qualitative vs. quantitative).
This paper investigates the migration of Asia-born academics from traditional centers in the West... more This paper investigates the migration of Asia-born academics from traditional centers in the West to Singapore, a rapidly developing education hub in Southeast Asia. We argue that such movement can be seen as a form of quasi-return, where migrant faculty look for places where they can be “close enough” to aging parents and family, while working in an institution that is “good enough” to continue research work. This position leads to conflicting notions of social mobility, when defined in terms of professional prestige and status. While interviewees perceived their move to Singapore as a form of upward mobility when compared to colleagues within their home countries, they simultaneously worried about their downward mobility compared to peers who had remained in the West. Such perceptions shape their decision to leave Singapore in the future, reinforcing current university hierarchies, where institutions in the USA and Europe continue to dominate notions of academic prestige.
This article investigates the factors that shape how migrant academics engage with fellow scholar... more This article investigates the factors that shape how migrant academics engage with fellow scholars within their countries of origin. We focus specifically on the mobility of Asian-born faculty between Singapore, a fast-developing education hub in Southeast Asia, and their 'home' countries within the region. Based on qualitative interviews with 45 migrant academics, this article argues that while education hubs like Singapore increase the possibility of brain circulation within Asia, epistemic differences between migrant academics and home country counterparts make it difficult to establish long-term collaboration for research. Singapore institutions also look to the West in determining how research work is assessed for tenure and promotion, encouraging Singapore-based academics to focus on networking with colleagues and peers based in the US and Europe rather than those based in origin countries. Such conditions undermine the positive impact of academic mobility between Singapore and surrounding countries within the region.
This thematic issue introduces the multifaceted nature of contemporary public policy—its multi-le... more This thematic issue introduces the multifaceted nature of contemporary public policy—its multi-level, multi-actor, and multi-issue features—by using the case of higher education policies from around the world. To do so, this introduction first describes how higher education as a policy sector should be garnering far more attention from scholars interested in political, economic, and social transformation. A framework for identifying and accounting for how the ‘multi-s’ characteristics configure and re-configure public policy is then introduced. Next, this thematic issue’s contributions are summarised with highlights of how they bring to life the different ‘multi-s’ features. This introduction concludes with a discussion of what the proposed framework of the ‘multi-s’ offers to studies of higher education policy coordination. In so doing, the objectives of this thematic issue are to highlight what the case of higher education policy coordination offers to studies of public policy, and to initiate a dialogue between all social scientists and practitioners interested in the increased complexity of governing, producing, and using knowledge today.
Regional cooperation in the higher education policy sector has been on the rise throughout the la... more Regional cooperation in the higher education policy sector has been on the rise throughout the last decades. In this article, we compare and analyse two instances of higher education regionalisms (i.e. political projects of higher education region creation) in Europe and Southeast Asia from an ideational perspective. In so doing, we engage with and challenge the diffusion argument common in both European higher education studies ('Bologna Process export thesis') and new comparative regionalism. Using publicly accessible documents from regional bodies active in higher education policy coordination, and 53 semi-structured interviews with key policy actors involved in these developments, we identify the policy ideas of European and Southeast Asian higher education regionalisms, and consider whether the extant models of regional cooperation and the knowledge discourse affected their evolution. Our findings indicate that the 'Bologna Process export thesis' and the diffusion assumptions of comparative regionalism are too simplistic and misleading. We conclude with suggestions for scholars interested in new comparative regionalism.
Handbook of Regional Cooperation and Integration, 2024
Regional cooperation in higher education has grown in recent decades due to political drivers and... more Regional cooperation in higher education has grown in recent decades due to political drivers and the increasingly salient role of knowledge in economies and societies. The term ‘regional cooperation’ in this chapter signifies the multi-directional and multi-level coordination of higher education collaborations that are mediated through the regional space. Set against this backdrop, this chapter offers an overview of how regional cooperation has emerged and evolved in the higher education sector. It first details the motivating factors that drive key policy and institutional stakeholders to take up regional higher education agendas. In particular, this chapter specifies five sets of rationales: human resource development; political development; social-cultural development; commercial trade; and academic development. The second part reviews the various regionally-based collaborations that have been organised in regions across the world, including Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America. It showcases the different forms of regional developments that have taken place, including those that have been instigated and promoted by global actors such as UNESCO. The next part maps out the outcomes, impacts, and effects of these regional collaborations and includes both constructive and critical reviews. A cautious assessment is offered, taking into account the difficulty of measurements, moving targets, the complexity of higher education policies, attribution problems, and lack of comprehensive studies. The last part reflects on the chapter’s findings, discussing the possible futures of regional cooperation in higher education amidst a growing complexity of policy challenges. In summary, this chapter shows how the regions have become an accepted governance level for higher education cooperation between states, higher education institutions, stakeholder groups, and supranational agencies.
Comparative Higher Education Politics. Policymaking in North America and Western Europe, 2023
This chapter contributes to our understanding of the transformation sweeping the higher education... more This chapter contributes to our understanding of the transformation sweeping the higher education sector in the last 50 years by examining how higher education policy has been framed and reframed since the 1970s in Western Europe. How policies are framed and reframed is important because it helps us make sense of higher education policy reforms around the world: the various models that drive it, the politics promoted, and the potential winners and losers resulting from framing and reframing. The literature review on framing and higher education policy in Western Europe shows that scholars examined three overlapping themes: the origin and evolution of European higher education policy cooperation (the ‘European Story’), Europeanization (‘When Europe Hits Home’), and the evolution of national higher education policy (‘National Story’). To provide a more considered discussion of framing and higher education policies, we then examine the higher education policy frames, framing, and reframing at the European-level, in Germany, and in Norway. The conclusion reflects on the avenues in which the framing approach could be used to generate more interdisciplinary and comparative higher education research in the post-pandemic context.
From Actors to Reforms in European Higher Education, 2022
Around the world, ‘higher education regionalism’ has become one accepted way to organise policy c... more Around the world, ‘higher education regionalism’ has become one accepted way to organise policy cooperation and reform efforts in the higher education sector. Higher education regionalism can manifest in two forms: intra-regional (dominant) and inter-regional (less common). Using the case of ‘European Union Support to Higher Education in the ASEAN Region’ (SHARE), I identify the actors and their roles in inter-regional higher education policy cooperation. My intention is to engage with Pavel Zgaga’s research on the external dimension of the Bologna Process, particularly how actorhood of the Bologna Process is organisationally constructed and received by the SHARE partners. I conclude with some personal reflections about Pavel Zgaga’s knowledge exchange in Southeast Asia.
The Lisbon Treaty is an international agreement that organizes cooperation between the member sta... more The Lisbon Treaty is an international agreement that organizes cooperation between the member states of the European Union (EU) across multiple policy fields. It lays the legal foundation for European integration, identifying which issue areas are for supranational policy cooperation and which areas are excluded. Signed on December 13, 2007, the Lisbon Treaty entered into force on December 1, 2009. For those interested in higher education policy developments in Europe, the Lisbon Treaty is relevant because the implementation of its articles introduced by earlier treaties has led to a robust set of EU higher education law despite the limited treaty basis for action in this sector. To start with, the Lisbon Treaty demarcates education policy as a supplementary competence for the EU. What this means is that the EU cannot pass any laws that harmonize the member states' education systems. This strict prohibition on harmonization means that the EU can only pass measures to support or to supplement member states' efforts for closer cooperation in the higher education sector. This entry first describes the limited legal bases for higher education policy cooperation according to the Lisbon Treaty before explaining how the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) developed higher education law by connecting education with enacting the four freedoms of the internal market, and expanded higher education law through enforcing EU citizenship provisions.
Public Policy Research in the Global South (Heike Grimm, Ed.), 2019
How do governments in the Global South, with abundant supply of labor, reconcile the positive uti... more How do governments in the Global South, with abundant supply of labor, reconcile the positive utility of promoting labor migration and the wider effects that emigration has on the families left behind? Taking the case of the Philippines, the world's largest exporter of nurses (a female-dominated profession), this chapter shows how the public policy perspective sheds light on the ways in which policymakers in the Philippines reconciled the need for economic growth and the preservation of core cultural values of the country. Situating our analysis within the context of "Asian values," we trace the policymakers' policy narratives in the design process of the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 and reveal how the debates revolved around securing the market for Philippines' nurse-migration industry. In so doing, we conclude that while the country belongs to the cultural heritage of Asia, which upholds strong family ties and the central role of women in the rearing of children, its governance structure and regulatory practices have reconfigured Asian values to promote and prioritize economic growth over the core values of the family.
The Oxford Handbook of Global Policy and Transnational Administration (Diane Stone and Kim Moloney, Eds.), 2019
The rise of global initiatives in many policy sectors is an emerging phenomenon that deserves the... more The rise of global initiatives in many policy sectors is an emerging phenomenon that deserves the attention of scholars interested in international relations, regional integration, and policy sciences, as well as practitioners seeking comparative examples beyond their national and regional borders. This chapter demonstrates the value-added of the design orientation to studying this phenomenon and the implications for contemporary delivery of public services and goods. It begins by describing three waves of policy design studies and their insights for unpacking the relationship between instrument design and intended outcomes. The overview reveals a notable feature of the extant policy design approach: its empirical preoccupation with domestic-level developments, which inform and confine theory development. This chapter introduces the analytical steps required to operationalise policy design insights to examining global public policy and transnational administration. In so doing, it calls for a new metaphor for policy design that would incorporate the beyond-the-state dimension.
Founded in 1901, the Rhodes Scholarship scheme is one of the longest running programs of scholarl... more Founded in 1901, the Rhodes Scholarship scheme is one of the longest running programs of scholarly exchange still in existence. It has been the model for many schemes that have since emerged. As such it offers an ideal context for examining, as well as raising new questions about the organisation and overall efficacy of scholarly exchange across the twentieth century. This chapter is the first attempt at a general historical analysis of the way the scholarship shaped the lives of those who received it. It takes a dual approach to the long view on scholarly exchange. Not only does it track the scholarship through the twentieth century, it also looks back to the 1890s and to the ideas and precedents that informed Rhodes and his executors. Beginning by placing the foundation of the Rhodes Scholarships in their historical context, the chapter then goes on to examine three basic issues that underpin most international exchange programs: first, the geographical distribution of award; second, gender parity in award; and, third, the long term geographical mobility of scholars. By bringing together historical and quantitative methods, it points to identifiable patterns of continuity, change, and regional diversity in the management and effect of the scheme.
The correlation between migration and security is still prominent more than a decade after 11 Sep... more The correlation between migration and security is still prominent more than a decade after 11 September 2001 (9/11). While significant, political authorities, such as those in China and the European Union (EU), have approached these issues from different perspectives. For Europe-an countries, having a strong and credible external border is crucial for the integration project; EU external migration practice has thus focused on keeping migrants out. This remains a defining feature of EU’s cooperation with neighbouring countries (through the European Neighbourhood Policy) and key transit/source countries (through EU Mobility Partnerships) (Lavenex 2006). In China, internal movement has been an utmost concern as it involves some 236 million people (this is approximately 31.8 percent of the EU’s total population) (National Bureau of Statistics of China 2013). Internal migration regulation in China has been viewed through the security lens because it is a question of social stability relating to urban-rural relations and reduction of economic disparity that has characterized the period of economic reforms since 1978. By contrast, China’s external migration control has been approached from the development angle as part of its shifting economic priorities and efforts at integrating into the global economy. Unlike the EU, China does not rely on external partners for migration regulation and this has significant implications for future EU-China security cooperation in migration. In this chapter, EU and Chinese policies concerning migration, security and development are compared and contrasted to reveal their divergent approaches. EU migration strategies are shown to derive largely from a framework of border security while Chinese migration policies are developed out of economic necessities. By outlining these differences, the question is raised: is it misplaced to focus on security when considering potential migration policy cooperation between the EU and China? The conclusion proposes ways forward.
This chapter examines the initiatives implemented through the Open Method of Coordination for ach... more This chapter examines the initiatives implemented through the Open Method of Coordination for achieving a key policy priority for the European Research Area—‘open, transparent and merit based recruitment practices with regard to research positions’. Specifically, it looks at the implementation of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers (the Charter and Code) through the Human Resources Strategy. In doing so, this chapter illuminates the real difficulties in removing mobility barriers to free movement of knowledge even in a region experienced in this very task. European policymakers believe that practising open recruitment would make Europe an attractive destination for research and innovation. This policy priority is rooted in the assumption that Europe needs knowledge workers to be competitive in the global knowledge economy, a policy belief found elsewhere in the world. What is generally missing from the political and policy discourse, as well as the academic analysis of global higher education, is the role of research administrators in these developments. Indeed, beyond the general discussion of the growth or ‘bloat’ of research administration in modern universities, there is little analysis and conceptualisation of how research administrators are involved in the shaping of higher education policies that affect core practices in universities, such as the recruitment of faculty and research staff. This chapter shows that a ‘bloated’ administration with its cadre of non-academic personnel and growing resources at its disposal is essential to facilitate the free movement of knowledge in the contemporary world.
‘Research and innovation’ has recently been moved closer to the top of the political and legislat... more ‘Research and innovation’ has recently been moved closer to the top of the political and legislative agenda of the European Union (EU) – the most advanced form of existing supranational cooperation. At the heart of these developments is the completion of the European Research Area (ERA) by 2014. According to Article 179 of the Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force in December 2009, the ERA would be an area within which ‘researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely’ (Official Journal of the European Union 2010, p. C 83/128). Yet this notion of a common scientific space where the mobility of knowledge is unhindered is as old as the EU itself. How can we account for its emergence, evolution and survival? This chapter sets out to address this question and is structured as follows. First, I discuss briefly the idea of the ERA and the ‘fifth freedom’. Next, I develop an analytical framework based on insights from studies that identify ways through which ideas affect political interactions. In this section I will also address a common methodological question faced by those proposed to use an ideational approach to study political life: is an idea epiphenomenal to interest or are its effects autonomous? I argue for adopting a dynamic approach, whereby ideas and interests are conceptualized as factors that interact to provide opportunities for actors seeking to reform sensitive policy sectors. This perspective allows us to examine how political actors confront unfamiliar (legislative) terrains, assess and select amongst solutions to what they perceive as (policy) challenges. A first-cut analysis, based mainly on documentary evidence, is then given; it points to the importance of the institutional dimension in explaining the impact of ideas in complex political interactions. The chapter concludes with a short discussion on what these developments tell us about the role of ideas in European integration.
By studying the implementation of the Charter and Code for Researchers, adopted by the European C... more By studying the implementation of the Charter and Code for Researchers, adopted by the European Commission, this chapter deals with a basic puzzle concerning voluntary policy instruments: why comply? More specifically, why do actors voluntarily implement non-binding EU measures that could contribute to changing existing (institutionalized) procedures, rules and practices? It is important to address this question in light of how increasingly complex EU governance has become in recent decades in which a panoply of binding as well as non-binding measures across different policy domains are adopted to affect similar outcomes. By explaining why research organizations would voluntarily implement measures originating from the supranational level in contested policy sectors, we consider whether integration could only move forward when legally binding measures are the modus operandi. Taking the CC as a case study and, following the literature on compliance, we identify the rationales and organizational features enabling research institutions to endorse and translate non-binding instruments into their internal regulations.
The principle of free movement has been central to the process of European unification. The 1957 ... more The principle of free movement has been central to the process of European unification. The 1957 Treaty of Rome identified four ‘factors of production’ that would be eligible for free movement, namely, goods, capital, services and labour (i.e. the ‘four freedoms’). Creators of the European Economic Community, as the EU was then known, believed that after pooling resources in key policy areas, the four freedoms would result in greater economic interdependence between the participant states. This economic tie would then in turn generate prosperity and peace between the historically warring European nations. Over fifty years have elapsed since the European countries agreed to remove internal barriers between their common territories, and the exercise now involves more than 27 sovereign states. Whilst the integration process did enter a period of ‘Eurosclerosis’ shortly after the 1973 Oil Crisis, it has been relaunched in the 1980s with free movement, or ‘mobility’ as it is now more commonly referred to by EU officials, as both the key strategy and objective of the integration process. This chapter takes stock of this development and advances the proposition that the evolution of European integration has contributed to increasing the levels of global inequality by marginalising those already at the economic and political fringes of society. Such outcome directly contradicts the democratic ethos underpinning the unification project and should be cause for concern.
To develop the argument, it first explains how, as they strived to achieve the four freedoms through market regulation, the member states had created legal categories of which persons were entitled to exercise mobility and, by implication, those who would be excluded from enjoying the privilege. Thus, an ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ divide has been established (Ugur 1995). Next, to illustrate how such categorisation became more pronounced as the integration process widened and deepened, I situate this development within the context of the emerging common European migration policy. As the member states intensified the removal of internal barriers against free movement, they also strengthened their external borders against what they considered as ‘unauthorised’ and ‘undesirable’ migration. The immediate result of this exercise has been that some of the ‘persons’ who were previously and implicitly excluded from free movement now became explicit. Moreover, the heterogeneity of the member states’ migration preferences had led to the successful adoption of policies concerning irregular migration but not labour migration. This means that the European migration regime, whilst empowering the authorities to remove irregular migrants from their common territories, do not offer any viable labour migration channels for entry and residence. Using sex workers as a case study, I demonstrate how EU member states’ efforts to ‘manage’ migration flows contributed to increasing the vulnerability of third country nationals who are sex workers within an internally borderless Europe. Whilst recent developments at the supranational-level confirmed that there has been a concerted effort to address the growing divide between ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’, these endeavours face multiple challenges. Hence, the chapter concludes by considering ways that the EU and its member states could narrow the inequality gap through a three-pronged strategy consisting of ‘universal principle, comprehensive policy and good practice’.
Europe stands on the brink of a new era of diversity and immigration. Although many Europeans wou... more Europe stands on the brink of a new era of diversity and immigration. Although many Europeans would prefer to ignore this fact, the signs are everywhere. Societies and politics are being irrevocably changed by their encounters with migrants, both recent and settled. This book pinpoints the specific trends and emerging patterns that allow us to understand what these changes mean for the future of Europe. On the ground level, institutions like schools and local governments have charted unique courses for dealing with diversity. And from above, the institutions of Brussels become ever more important for regulating the big picture. The passage of the Lisbon Treaty means that common EU rules on immigration will now be easier to achieve (and more likely). But what exact role is played by the institutions of the EU in Brussels, and how does this vary across policy areas? How are Europeans on all levels dealing with the sensitive questions raised by Islam, and how are migrants and minoritie...
Building the Knowledge Economy in Europe investigates the integration of emerging knowledge polic... more Building the Knowledge Economy in Europe investigates the integration of emerging knowledge policy domains on the European political agenda, and the dynamics of this in relation to knowledge policies. Professors Meng-Hsuan Chou and åse Gornitzka bring together leading experts who address the two central pillars of the ‘Europe of Knowledge’, research and higher education, to reveal the vertical, horizontal and sequential tensions in European knowledge governance.
The discipline of public administration has an epistemology problem. To be clearer, the disciplin... more The discipline of public administration has an epistemology problem. To be clearer, the discipline of public administration as driven by an overwhelming number of published US-centered analyses has a problem. If left unaddressed, the discipline may risk “postmature senility.” Indeed, doomed is a discipline that “has lost the wellsprings of its creativity, that has run out of interesting ideas, that has its premises or its expectations repudiated or reduced to triviality by experience” (Esman, 1988, p. 133). The cause of such a problem lies in research questions driven by systemic bias in its methodological preferences. Such biases limit epistemological diversity and, ultimately, what is deemed as “knowable.” This is not a bold claim. We are not the first to observe epistemological issues within public administration. Of the many epistemology discussions (for a start, see Adams, 1992; Dobuzinskis, 1997; Heidelberg, 2018; Kickert, 1993; Raadschelders, 1999, 2011; Riccucci, 2010; Whetsell, 2013), we believe such discussions have shared three features: they often engage in methodological nationalism, are methodologically American (or American and continental European), and are methodologically White. The exceptions are largely recent (Candler, 2008, 2014; Haque, Wal, & Berg, 2021; Nzewi & Maramura, 2021; Santis, 2022; Silva & Batista dos Santos, 2022; Tapscott, 2021) and are few in number. By co-editing a double Special Issue in which our contributors gently or, in some cases, more forcefully question disciplinary insularity, our aim is clear. This is not about the non-American world asking for a seat at the minority-owned (aka American-owned) disciplinary table. This is also not a demand for another table, in parallel to the American one, in which non-American epistemologies are discussed and promoted but could equally be dismissed. Instead, it is a call to reshape the table from one being led by a minority (US and West) toward one representing the majority (the World), taking a bold step toward the “knowable” through epistemological diversity.
This special issue on ‘The terrains of the Europe of Knowledge’ looks at how European knowledge p... more This special issue on ‘The terrains of the Europe of Knowledge’ looks at how European knowledge policy cooperation configures and reconfigures the evolving political and social landscapes in the region and those beyond. Knowledge policies are connected to many sectors, and changes in how knowledge is governed will inevitably alter the shape and contents of other policy domains. The contributions of this special issue reveal some of these shifting patterns by analysing the relationship between the central features of multi-level, multi-actor, and multi-issue policymaking in the knowledge domain: the ideas that inspire reform, the institutions tasked to implement the changes, the instruments adopted for translating ideas into practice, and the diverse interests of actors with a stake in how knowledge is governed. All contributions take as a point of departure that existing policy spaces are filled with at least some ideas, institutions, instruments, and interests—they may be rudimentary, established, or in transition—concerning the legitimate and appropriate form of knowledge policy governance. By invoking the image of terrains, this special issue is interested in describing and explaining what happens to the Europe of Knowledge landscapes when the ‘old’ meets and interacts with the ‘new’.
This special issue introduces the themes and dynamics of European integration in an increasingly
... more This special issue introduces the themes and dynamics of European integration in an increasingly important and rapidly evolving policy domain on the global political agenda: knowledge policies. Knowledge policies such as research and higher education remain under-examined issue areas in mainstream European studies. Yet their centrality to the governance of academic life, economic growth, market positioning, innovation capacity in Europe and beyond have only grown in significance throughout the last decade. Hence, to work in academe and to understand Europe, it is essential to know the Europe of Knowledge in the making. This editorial introduces the notion of the Europe of Knowledge and places it in the European integration research agenda. We first describe what the concept means before suggesting how to approach the Europe of Knowledge as a new case for investigating European integration dynamics. This discussion revolves around the evolution of policy developments in research and higher education to show how knowledge policies are compound and manifest distinct dimensions of differentiated integration and experimentation, both fruitful theoretical research agendas. We then summarise the articles to show the respective Europe of Knowledge themes they highlight. We conclude by considering how the Europe of Knowledge in the making encourages testing established empirical and analytical assumptions about European integration and experimenting with emerging ideas about regional cooperation from around the world.
This paper addresses the gap between government strategies and policy effects by answering the qu... more This paper addresses the gap between government strategies and policy effects by answering the question: Which factors (e.g. social, economic, academic networks and/or migration policy) are crucial for attracting and retaining international academic talents? Taking the case of Singapore, a country whose universities have consistently risen in global university rankings in recent years, we present the results from a survey of tenured and tenure-track faculty members at the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, and Singapore Management University. Singapore is certainly not alone in its efforts to attract the ‘best-and-brightest’ from abroad. The underlying assumption and belief among most governments engaged in the ‘war for talent’ is that, if the ‘right’ package can be designed and offered, the ‘right’ talents will come and stay. Our findings show that for those foreign academics based in Singapore the factors ‘able to communicate in English’ (both inside and outside of the work environment), ‘remuneration package’, ‘better access to research funding’, and ‘moving closer to parents’ are most crucial in their decision to relocate to Singapore. While the majority of our respondents intend to remain in Singapore, their satisfaction concerning ‘cost of living’ and ‘work-life balance’ are significant in their decision to leave Singapore.
One of the key challenges facing nations, organisations, and companies alike in the international... more One of the key challenges facing nations, organisations, and companies alike in the international competition for talent is: how to retain talent once successfully recruited? In this policy brief, we discuss the main professional and personal reasons behind future mobility decisions for academic talents in Singapore and conclude with recommendations as to how the country can retain those already here. A robust retention strategy is equally significant to an effective recruitment strategy, and can be seen as the other side of the coin of an overall successful approach to talent management.
This paper identifies with a growing number of scholars who call for a more nuanced understanding... more This paper identifies with a growing number of scholars who call for a more nuanced understanding of academic mobility within today’s increasingly stratified higher education system (see Ackers, 2008; Carozza and Menuccci, 2014). In particular, we emphasize the need to look at how academics make meaning of their mobility and how they plan their migration trajectories (Saint-Blancat, 2017). We focus specifically on the experiences of Asian-born faculty who migrated to take on tenure-track positions in Singapore after studying or working in prestigious institutions in the Europe and the US. While researchers have investigated the movement of academics between developing countries and traditional centres of knowledge production in the West, fewer scholars have looked at migration flows to “aspiring centres” (Altbach 2006, 124) such as Singapore, where government agencies invest heavily in the aggressive recruitment of foreign faculty. This paper also discusses how migrant faculty retention and future migration decisions are shaped by pressures that extend beyond national borders: cross-border ties to aging parents and community in their “home” countries, as well as a need to remain visible within a global academic community largely centred in the West. For most of the migrant faculty in our study, this situation brings about conflicting notions of social mobility, when defined in terms of professional prestige and status. On the one hand, many of our interviewees viewed their movement to Singapore as a form of upward mobility, an opportunity to stay ‘close’ to family but beyond the underfunded and ‘unproductive’ universities within their home countries. On the other hand, the migrant faculty we interviewed also saw themselves as downwardly mobile compared to peers who had remained in the West. These contradicting ideas influence their future mobility decisions, thereby reflecting and reinforcing current inequalities in global higher education.
This policy brief presents the main findings to the question 'What attracts academic talents to S... more This policy brief presents the main findings to the question 'What attracts academic talents to Singapore?' and offers three specific policy recommendations. It is from our study 'Singapore in the Global Talent Race' funded by the National Research Foundation Singapore.
This survey report is part of the Singapore in the Global Talent Race (SGTR) project, a research ... more This survey report is part of the Singapore in the Global Talent Race (SGTR) project, a research study that investigates international talents' motivations to come, work, and stay in Singapore, as well as their impact on the local environment.
The correlation between migration and security remains fashionable even more than a decade after ... more The correlation between migration and security remains fashionable even more than a decade after 9/11. This is hardly surprising, given that migration regulation is a key policy task for all governments around the world, regardless of their political ideological leaning. Indeed, a fundamental regulatory function of a sovereign state is determining who enters, moves within, and leaves its geographical territory. For both the European Union (EU) and China, migration is a highly important and contentious issue area. Yet, to understand their respective (and distinct) concerns, it is essential to first distinguish between internal migration (mobility) and external migration (immigration). For the European countries, having a strong and credible external border is crucial for the smooth functioning of the integration project. This focus is rooted in the perception and social security concern that ‘benefit tourism’ could occur once internal borders are lifted. Hence, EU migration practice has been, in the main, focussed on keeping most migrants out. International cooperation with neighbouring countries (through the European Neighbourhood Policy) and key transit and source countries (through EU Mobility Partnerships) have been crucial for the European partners as it provides them with the leverage to patrol and monitor its external borders (Lavenex 2006).
In the case of China, internal movement has been and remains of utmost concern for the state. This is because, inter alia, it involves a vast number of people: according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China (2013), in 2012, China’s floating population was estimated at around 236 million (around 31.8% of the EU’s total population). Moreover, internal migration relates to the question of urban-rural relations and the reduction of economic disparity that has characterised the period of economic reforms since 1978. It follows that we can understand internal migration in China as a question of social stability, which is why it is still tightly controlled even though this has been slowly changing. This is in contrast to the EU’s social security concerns of ‘benefit tourism’; the floating population in China does not have access to benefits (e.g. grain rations, healthcare, employer-provided housing) stemming from possessing the appropriate hukou (household registry). External migration, on the other hand, has witnessed a partial and gradual relaxation of control over the last three decades as part of China’s shifting economic priorities and its efforts at integrating into the global economy. Unlike the EU, however, China does not rely on external governmental partners for migration regulation and this, we argue, has significant implications for the future of EU-China security cooperation in the migration field. This brief looks at how China considers the security dimension in migration. The question guiding this discussion is: Does China securitise migration and, if so, how?
How, if at all, does the Commission’s expertise inform intergovernmental decision-making within t... more How, if at all, does the Commission’s expertise inform intergovernmental decision-making within the EU? In this article, we aim to capture the relationship between the Commission’s expertise and its influence within intergovernmental policy-areas through a study of Commission influence in two least likely sectors: security and defence policies (military mission Atalanta and EU Maritime Security Strategy) and external migration (EU mobility partnerships with third countries). In these cases we observe that the Commission strongly informs policy developments even though it has only limited formal competences. To explore whether and, if so, how this influence is linked to its expertise, we develop and consider two hypotheses: The expert authority hypothesis and the expert arguments hypothesis. To identify possible additional channels of influence, we also consider the relevance of two alternative hypotheses: The strategic coalition hypothesis and the institutional circumvention hypothesis. We find that the Commission’s use of its expertise is indeed key to understanding its de facto influence within policy-areas where its formal competences remain limited. Our findings add to the existing literature by revealing how expertise matters. Specifically, our cases show that the Commission informs intergovernmental decision-making by successfully linking discussions to policy-areas where it holds expert authority. However, the Commission also informs EU policies by circumventing the formal lines of intergovernmental decision-making, and by cooperating with member states that share its preference for further integration.
Center on Migration Policy and Society Working Paper, 2007
The 2006 French Immigration and Integration Law restructured existing French legislation concerni... more The 2006 French Immigration and Integration Law restructured existing French legislation concerning immigrants and their integration. It promotes a strategy consisting of 'selective immigration', mandatory integration for long-term residents and 'co-development'. Which factors have contributed to this policy change? This working paper examines the substance of the law and the context through which it has been presented and debated. It finds that domestic factors are largely responsible for the introduction and passage of the law. In particular, within the context of the upcoming 2007 French Presidential election, this paper highlights the role that Nicolas Sarkozy has played in the recent policy change. This preference for the national approach implies that the EU will continue to encounter difficulties in its attempts to construct a common EU migration policy.
Issues concerning the nexus between migration and development have recently reached the top of th... more Issues concerning the nexus between migration and development have recently reached the top of the European Union’s policy agenda. With the adoption of the 2005 European Commission Communication, ‘Migration and Development: Some concrete orientations’, EU member states appeared to have embraced the so-called ‘comprehensive’, or ‘global’, approach. This working paper critically examines these efforts in light of the prospects for future EU-wide policies specifically addressing migration and development. It concludes that the structure of EU’s decision-making process concerning legal migration favours what can be considered a ‘coercive’ approach. This working paper demonstrates that EU’s preference for the coercive approach derives from, and is reinforced by, five factors: (a) the overwhelming presence of the ‘security rationale’ surrounding the debate concerning migration and development; (b) a missing foundation for a common EU migration policy; (c) the need to vote unanimously in the Council of Ministers; (d) the exclusion of key institutional actors who prefer the comprehensive approach from the decision-making process; and (e) the isolation of decision-making power within an institutional setting which favours the coercive strategy. This paper concludes by identifying the necessary institutional changes the EU needs to make in order to put the comprehensive approach into practice.
... public concerns about immigration: Germany and the UK Christina Boswell,Meng-Hsuan Chou and J... more ... public concerns about immigration: Germany and the UK Christina Boswell,Meng-Hsuan Chou and Julie Smith 2005 ... immigration: Germany and the UK Christina Boswell, Meng-Hsuan Chou and Julie Smith * Department of Geography, Loughborough University, ...
... public concerns about immigration: Germany and the UK Christina Boswell,Meng-Hsuan Chou and J... more ... public concerns about immigration: Germany and the UK Christina Boswell,Meng-Hsuan Chou and Julie Smith 2005 ... immigration: Germany and the UK Christina Boswell, Meng-Hsuan Chou and Julie Smith * Department of Geography, Loughborough University, ...
... public concerns about immigration: Germany and the UK Christina Boswell,Meng-Hsuan Chou and J... more ... public concerns about immigration: Germany and the UK Christina Boswell,Meng-Hsuan Chou and Julie Smith 2005 ... immigration: Germany and the UK Christina Boswell, Meng-Hsuan Chou and Julie Smith * Department of Geography, Loughborough University, ...
Global talents can bring multiple benefits to the host country, such as greater economic growth, ... more Global talents can bring multiple benefits to the host country, such as greater economic growth, productivity, competitiveness and innovation. That is why many countries have developed a variety of policies to attract and retain talents. However, less is known about the effects of policies to attract and retain 'academic talents', which refer to those foreign scientists and scholars working in the university sector outside their country of origin, and, increasingly, outside the country of their PhD.
There is an assumption among scholars of regionalism and European higher education studies that E... more There is an assumption among scholars of regionalism and European higher education studies that Europe’s Bologna Process is the model to emulate for regional cooperation in the higher education sector. This assumption is not without context. ‘Bologna’ is indeed a very well recognised brand both within and beyond the borders of Europe; the cooperation achieved thus far for constructing the European Higher Education Area is unparalleled. But does this mean that other regions embrace the Bologna Process as the Gold Standard for how to ‘do’ higher education cooperation?
In this thematic issue of Policy and Society (all contributions are openly accessible), we highli... more In this thematic issue of Policy and Society (all contributions are openly accessible), we highlight the multi-level, multi-actor, and multi-issue (the 'multi-s') nature of public policy using the case of higher education policies. We begin with an overview of how the global shift towards knowledge-based economies and societies has placed 'knowledge' at the core of contemporary public policy and policymaking. The governance of knowledge, however, is not a neatly contained policy coordination exercise: it requires collaboration across multiple policy sectors that may have previously experienced very little or less interaction. For example, we can think of a (non-exhaustive) list of relevant policy areas to include, such as higher education, research, trade, foreign policy, development, or migration. In our view, higher education policy coordination is thus permeated with respective sectoral concerns, with discussions taking place across distinct policy arenas, sometimes in silos, both inside and outside of formal government channels. While the above characterization brings forth the multi-issue aspect competing for attention in higher education policy coordination, we suggest that it also points to the presence of multiple actors: state actors from different ministries or agencies, representatives from universities and businesses, other non-state actors (interest groups, stakeholder organizations), as well as users of such coordinative outputs (concerned parents, students, as well as employers). As regular readers of this blog would recognize: the multi-issue and multi-actor features of higher education policy coordination often result in duplication, competition, inconsistencies, clashing priorities, and even potential bureaucratic and political conflict (Braun, 2008; Peters, 2015)—all symptoms of horizontal policy coordination challenges (Gornitzka, 2010). We can add to this observation the fact that actors involved in the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of higher education policy (Gornitzka & Maassen, 2000; Olsen, 1988) often operate, and 'shop' for better policy solutions, across several governance levels. While the rise of the regions—both supranational and subnational—in the higher education policy domain has garnered some academic attention (Chou & Ravinet, 2015; Jayasuriya & Robertson, 2010), this multi-level dimension of policy coordination needs to be brought into sharper relief. Indeed, international knowledge policy coordination stretches across many levels, including the macro-regional (e.g. European Union—EU, Association of Southeast Asian Nations—ASEAN), the meso-regional (Nordics, Baltics—bilateral or multilateral cooperation among states sharing specific geographical features), sub-regional (also bilateral or multilateral cross-border cooperation between distinct territories of different states), as well as the state/national (in federal systems), sub-national, and organizational levels (see e.g. Piattoni, 2010 concerning multi-level governance in the European context). In the introduction to this thematic issue, we present an analytical framework that would assist in identifying and studying the multi-issue, multi-actor, and multi-level features of contemporary policymaking and policy coordination. Specifically, we strongly argue that studying policy coordination in today's higher education sector requires unpacking the three distinct characteristics of this very coordination and addressing them separately from one another as an independent perspective and recognizing their interaction as likely to be responsible for the outcomes observed. In so doing, we call for analysing how the 'multi-s'
Across the world, higher education is rapidly changing. Universities are increasingly seen as key... more Across the world, higher education is rapidly changing. Universities are increasingly seen as key engines of a 'knowledge economy', producing the innovation and the workers crucial to new industries. Driven by rankings that claim to measure 'world-class' status, and by the incentives and liberalised regulations of national governments, many universities are promoting themselves as 'global' institutions and competing to attract renowned researchers, international students, and grant income. These changes are profound—they reshape the long-standing relationship between universities and the nation-state, and reconstitute opportunities for social mobility, and the way millions of individuals see, understand and navigate the world. They are changes that, put simply, are deeply political. These shifts often go under the adopted narrative of the 'globalisation of higher education'—a discourse which tends to treat this new terrain as largely a smooth space through which people, money, and knowledge travel seamlessly, apolitically , and for the mutual benefit of all involved. Such analyses, however, tend to underestimate the competing interests involved in these changes, and the asymmetrical power relations and political contestation at local, national and regional levels that are configuring and reconfiguring contemporary higher education in ways
Regional policy cooperation in the higher education sector is on the rise, but it remains under-s... more Regional policy cooperation in the higher education sector is on the rise, but it remains under-studied. Indeed, beyond Europe's Bologna Process, an instance of what we refer to as 'higher education regionalism' (Chou and Ravinet 2015), developments elsewhere are less examined and rarely compared. In our article 'The emergent terrains of " higher education regionalism " : How and why higher education is an interesting case for comparative regionalism' in EJHE, we identified three concrete steps for those interested in pursuing a research agenda on comparative higher education regionalisms. In the first step, we recommend mapping out the diverse regional higher education initiatives in place within a specific period of time. This identification process can be limited to initiatives that are regional agreements adopted (1) between states only (bilateral, multilateral), and (2) between states and explicitly involving higher education and research institutions. While this exercise can be done for every geographical region around the world, it is challenging to be comprehensive—in scope and across time. To address this, we suggest crowd sourcing as a potential solution: a digital Map of Higher Education Regionalism can be made available to the public, who are invited to identify initiatives satisfying the two above initial criteria that are currently missing from the Map. Developing the Map would enable us to address a series of questions ranging from the extent to which regional
Higher education is undeniably global. But this did not prevent interested policy actors, meeting... more Higher education is undeniably global. But this did not prevent interested policy actors, meeting on the occasion of the 650 anniversary of the University of Vienna in 2015, to emphasise the significance of the global and international dimension, as their colleagues have done at the 800 anniversary of the University of Paris nearly 20 years ago. As academics, we know that higher education has a deep relationship with globalisation: from rankings to mobility of students, faculty, and staff; from quality assurance to student-centred learning outcomes; from university governance to the digitalisation of teaching and research collaboration. It is nearly impossible to separate the two. Yet we are still lacking a clear and shared definition of 'global' and 'globalisation' among higher education practitioners, scholars, and observers—the very people who have been struck by their intensifying relationship since the very beginning, whenever that was. Our handbook chapter develops a set of conceptual tools and lenses to understand the global transformation of the higher education sector by focussing on a particular pattern of this phenomenon we call higher education regionalism (Chou and Ravinet 2015).
This edited volume gathers contributions from our 'Europe of Knowledge' section at the European C... more This edited volume gathers contributions from our 'Europe of Knowledge' section at the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) general conference in Reykjavik in 2011. This was the first time that we – researchers working on knowledge policies (higher education and research) – had our own section at the ECPR. While we have successfully reconvened a 'Europe of Knowledge' section at every ECPR general conference since, we wanted to mark the occasion with a publication to promote the study of knowledge policies among EU scholars. At the time, Elgar came out with a new series on 'New Horizons in European Politics' and we thought this was a perfect opportunity to introduce the topics to an EU audience. The reason for this is because we believe these two policy sectors have much to offer to those interested in regional integration dynamics. Moreover, I thought it would be interesting to spotlight the policies that are quite important to academics, as European knowledge policies affect how we teach and carry out basic research. Q2: The book analyses two central pillars of the 'Europe of Knowledge', research and higher education policies. Have the processes of European integration in these two policy areas developed similarly or differently? European cooperation in the fields of research and higher education has followed different pathways. We describe these developments in Chapter 1, which is available here for readers, but they can be summarised in a nutshell as follow: knowledge cooperation started very early in the integration process. Research cooperation has, however, evolved much further due to the overall national sensitivity surrounding higher education issues. A key development for research policy cooperation occurred in the 1980s: the institutionalisation of the Framework Programmes, which is now synonymous with EU research policy even though this area of cooperation is more than just about funding.
How do we explain the variance of high-skilled immigration policies over time in countries belong... more How do we explain the variance of high-skilled immigration policies over time in countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)? Lucie Cerna answers this question—and more—in her well-written book Immigration Policies and the Global Competition for Talent. In comparison to migratory flows mainly consisting of those fleeing their countries of origin for refuge, high-skilled immigration is generally less controversial in policy circles. This is because governments, especially those in the OECD countries, facing acute labour shortages, ageing populations, and decreasing human capital are incentivised to attract the 'best-and-brightest' from abroad. For them, recruiting foreign talents is seen as a viable, if not essential, policy solution to generate and sustain economic growth, as well as for competing in the global race for innovation. But differences in policies exist: between and within countries over time. Cerna argues for explaining these differences as a function of coalition-building between three sets of actors—high-skilled labour, low-skilled labour, and capital—mediated by labour market organisation and political representation. Her basic theoretical assumption is 'Preferences + Institutions = Outcomes', with preferences referring to political actors' 'wants and desires', institutions to labour market organisation and political representation in that country, and outcomes to high-skilled immigration policies. For Cerna, union density, centralisation/coordination of unions and employers' associations , the integration of labour market actors into the domestic policymaking process, and the degree of political representation of (high-skilled labour) actors are the explanatory variables in unpacking cross-national variations in high-skilled immigration policies.
This Call seeks conceptual or theory-driven empirical scholarship that questions the assumed ‘adm... more This Call seeks conceptual or theory-driven empirical scholarship that questions the assumed ‘administrative sovereignty’ of public administration and the object of public service delivery, offers unique transnational perspectives, and, where relevant, engages multiple levels of governance (from local to regional to global).
Panel abstract: States' information resources and education policies have long belonged to the re... more Panel abstract: States' information resources and education policies have long belonged to the realm of national politics and governance. Knowledge governance and its politics, however, are no longer purely domestic exercises involving only public or elected officials. Taking this transformation as our starting point, this panel examines ideational and policy circulation, underlying rationalities (competing or supporting), and the institutional outcomes and alternatives of shifting global political economy of knowledge. We invite theoretical and/or empirical papers addressing any of the above features. Chairs: Meng-Hsuan Chou (hsuan.chou@cantab.net) and Tero Erkkilä (tero.erkkila@helsinki.fi) To propose a paper for this panel, please submit the following to Meng-Hsuan Chou (hsuan.chou@cantab.net) preferably by 10 January 2019: (1) Your registered email with MyECPR (https://ecpr.eu/Login.aspx) (2) Paper title (3) Abstract (no more than 500 words) (4) Keywords (3-8) Please also direct any questions to Hsuan. Thanks and we look forward to receiving your submissions.
Third Meeting of Public Policy Network (PPN)
Singapore, 1 February 2019
On behalf of the organiz... more Third Meeting of Public Policy Network (PPN) Singapore, 1 February 2019
On behalf of the organizing committee, we are pleased to announce that the call for abstracts for the Third Annual Meeting of the Singapore-based Public Policy Network has been extended to December 1, 2018. Based on the model of similar successful public policy networks around the world, the Singapore PPN provides a venue for faculty at Singapore’s post-secondary institutions interested in topics of public policy or comparative politics to present their work and engage in discussions with colleagues from around the region.
The 2019 workshop will be held on February 1, 2019 at the School of Social Sciences (SOSS) at Singapore Management University (SMU).
Although based in Singapore, the workshop is open to papers on all topics within the policy sciences and also more broadly to comparative politics and is not restricted to only those directly related to Singapore. Proposals for papers may deal with any issue of interest to scholars looking at local, national and international events in the region and elsewhere, or with theoretical, conceptual or methodological subjects related generally to policy studies.
Abstracts of up to 300 words, with paper title and author’s affiliation and contact details should be submitted via email to:
We hope you will join us for a stimulating set of presentations in February, 2019.
Ishani Mukherjee, SMU Araz Taeihagh, NUS Michael Howlett, SFU Meng-Hsuan Chou, NTU PPN-Singapore Organizing Committee _____________________________________
Key dates September 15, 2018 Call for papers opens December 1, 2018 Call for papers closes December 15, 2018 Announcement of accepted papers January 15, 2019: Registration opens February 1, 2019: PPPN-Singapore 2019
1. Building a European Knowledge Area: An Introduction to the Dynamics of Policy Domains on the R... more 1. Building a European Knowledge Area: An Introduction to the Dynamics of Policy Domains on the Rise Meng-Hsuan Chou and Ase Gornitzka 2. The Evolution of the European Research Area as an Idea in European Integration Meng-Hsuan Chou 3. Translating the 'European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers' in National Arenas: Norway vs. Spain Meng-Hsuan Chou and Jose Real-Dato 4. Dynamics of Institution Building in the Europe of Knowledge: The Birth of the European Research Council Ase Gornitzka and Julia Metz 5. European Institution Building under Inhospitable Conditions - the Unlikely Establishment of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Ase Gornitzka and Julia Metz 6. Dynamics of Voluntary Coordination: Actors and Networks in the Bologna Process Mari Elken and Martina Vukasovic 7. How Strong are the EU's Soft Modes of Governance? The Use of the Open Method of Coordination in National Policymaking in the Knowledge Policy Domain Ase Gornitzka 8. 'Quality Agencies': The Development of Regulating and Mediating Organizations in Scandinavian Higher Education Hanne Foss Hansen 9. Economic Shocks, Federalism and Redistribution: Exploring the Future of Europe through a Comparison of the Evolution of Student Financial Aid in the United States and the European Union Cecile Hoareau
Chou, M.-H., Huisman, J. & M.P. Lorenzo (2024). Regional cooperation in higher education, in P. De Lombaerde (ed.), Handbook on regional cooperation and integration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 266-288., 2024
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Books by Meng-Hsuan Chou
Articles by Meng-Hsuan Chou
we address the question: How can we account for different
internationalisation outcomes? We focus on three actors involved in the
global race to internationalise higher education activities: higher
education institutions (HEIs), states, and migrants. We argue that the
migration-higher education nexus enables us to begin describing and
explaining differences in internationalisation outcomes (i.e. greater,
limited, or none) by focussing our empirical attention on the interaction
between HEI internationalisation strategies, state policies, and migrant
agency to move/stay. We delineate various configurations of these
interactions and how they determine internationalisation outcomes.
we address the question: How can we account for different
internationalisation outcomes? We focus on three actors involved in the
global race to internationalise higher education activities: higher
education institutions (HEIs), states, and migrants. We argue that the
migration-higher education nexus enables us to begin describing and
explaining differences in internationalisation outcomes (i.e. greater,
limited, or none) by focussing our empirical attention on the interaction
between HEI internationalisation strategies, state policies, and migrant
agency to move/stay. We delineate various configurations of these
interactions and how they determine internationalisation outcomes.
To develop the argument, it first explains how, as they strived to achieve the four freedoms through market regulation, the member states had created legal categories of which persons were entitled to exercise mobility and, by implication, those who would be excluded from enjoying the privilege. Thus, an ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ divide has been established (Ugur 1995). Next, to illustrate how such categorisation became more pronounced as the integration process widened and deepened, I situate this development within the context of the emerging common European migration policy. As the member states intensified the removal of internal barriers against free movement, they also strengthened their external borders against what they considered as ‘unauthorised’ and ‘undesirable’ migration. The immediate result of this exercise has been that some of the ‘persons’ who were previously and implicitly excluded from free movement now became explicit. Moreover, the heterogeneity of the member states’ migration preferences had led to the successful adoption of policies concerning irregular migration but not labour migration. This means that the European migration regime, whilst empowering the authorities to remove irregular migrants from their common territories, do not offer any viable labour migration channels for entry and residence. Using sex workers as a case study, I demonstrate how EU member states’ efforts to ‘manage’ migration flows contributed to increasing the vulnerability of third country nationals who are sex workers within an internally borderless Europe. Whilst recent developments at the supranational-level confirmed that there has been a concerted effort to address the growing divide between ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’, these endeavours face multiple challenges. Hence, the chapter concludes by considering ways that the EU and its member states could narrow the inequality gap through a three-pronged strategy consisting of ‘universal principle, comprehensive policy and good practice’.
important and rapidly evolving policy domain on the global political agenda: knowledge policies.
Knowledge policies such as research and higher education remain under-examined issue areas in
mainstream European studies. Yet their centrality to the governance of academic life, economic
growth, market positioning, innovation capacity in Europe and beyond have only grown in significance
throughout the last decade. Hence, to work in academe and to understand Europe, it is essential to
know the Europe of Knowledge in the making.
This editorial introduces the notion of the Europe of Knowledge and places it in the European
integration research agenda. We first describe what the concept means before suggesting how to
approach the Europe of Knowledge as a new case for investigating European integration dynamics.
This discussion revolves around the evolution of policy developments in research and higher education
to show how knowledge policies are compound and manifest distinct dimensions of differentiated
integration and experimentation, both fruitful theoretical research agendas. We then summarise the
articles to show the respective Europe of Knowledge themes they highlight. We conclude by
considering how the Europe of Knowledge in the making encourages testing established empirical and
analytical assumptions about European integration and experimenting with emerging ideas about
regional cooperation from around the world.
In the case of China, internal movement has been and remains of utmost concern for the state. This is because, inter alia, it involves a vast number of people: according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China (2013), in 2012, China’s floating population was estimated at around 236 million (around 31.8% of the EU’s total population). Moreover, internal migration relates to the question of urban-rural relations and the reduction of economic disparity that has characterised the period of economic reforms since 1978. It follows that we can understand internal migration in China as a question of social stability, which is why it is still tightly controlled even though this has been slowly changing. This is in contrast to the EU’s social security concerns of ‘benefit tourism’; the floating population in China does not have access to benefits (e.g. grain rations, healthcare, employer-provided housing) stemming from possessing the appropriate hukou (household registry). External migration, on the other hand, has witnessed a partial and gradual relaxation of control over the last three decades as part of China’s shifting economic priorities and its efforts at integrating into the global economy. Unlike the EU, however, China does not rely on external governmental partners for migration regulation and this, we argue, has significant implications for the future of EU-China security cooperation in the migration field. This brief looks at how China considers the security dimension in migration. The question guiding this discussion is: Does China securitise migration and, if so, how?
Singapore, 1 February 2019
On behalf of the organizing committee, we are pleased to announce that the call for abstracts for the Third Annual Meeting of the Singapore-based Public Policy Network has been extended to December 1, 2018. Based on the model of similar successful public policy networks around the world, the Singapore PPN provides a venue for faculty at Singapore’s post-secondary institutions interested in topics of public policy or comparative politics to present their work and engage in discussions with colleagues from around the region.
The 2019 workshop will be held on February 1, 2019 at the School of Social Sciences (SOSS) at Singapore Management University (SMU).
Although based in Singapore, the workshop is open to papers on all topics within the policy sciences and also more broadly to comparative politics and is not restricted to only those directly related to Singapore. Proposals for papers may deal with any issue of interest to scholars looking at local, national and international events in the region and elsewhere, or with theoretical, conceptual or methodological subjects related generally to policy studies.
Abstracts of up to 300 words, with paper title and author’s affiliation and contact details should be submitted via email to:
singaporepublicpolicynet@gmail.com
Please note that submissions now close on Dec 1, 2018. (Deadline extended)
Participants to the workshop are responsible for their travel to the event venue.
More information on the PPN is available on its website at:
http://www.publicpolicynet.com
We hope you will join us for a stimulating set of presentations in February, 2019.
Ishani Mukherjee, SMU
Araz Taeihagh, NUS
Michael Howlett, SFU
Meng-Hsuan Chou, NTU
PPN-Singapore Organizing Committee
_____________________________________
Key dates
September 15, 2018 Call for papers opens
December 1, 2018 Call for papers closes
December 15, 2018 Announcement of accepted papers
January 15, 2019: Registration opens
February 1, 2019: PPPN-Singapore 2019
Launch: June 2019 at IPPA Conference (Montreal).