ABSTRACT
The notion of policy space has long been used in theoretical discussions around globalisation and its effects on various areas of state activity, including education. But, despite the challenging ideas put forward in relation to the knowledge economy, knowledge society and the transformation of education systems, the analysis of education policies and practices still essentially draws on nationally based studies. This is understandable, since education has developed very much within the territorial boundaries of nation states, and continues to be shaped by the institutions of the state (in the case of the European Union, we refer to the member states). The ‘inside’ of national boundaries has been successfully differentiated from the ‘outside’ through processes
of citizenship and the building of welfare systems. Throughout history, education has been fundamental in the process of organising and homogenising societies and in effect reaffirming the differences with ‘others’ separated by territorial borders (Agnew 2005; Favell and Guiraudon 2011). But, the problematisation of the ‘national’ or ‘domestic’ policy space in education becomes imperative due to:
(a) economic and social changes and pressures that reward countries and regions that manage to build increasingly global networks;
(b) the building of supranational organisations such as the European Union (henceforth EU) and transnational organisations such as the OECD that drive reforms towards goals that are decided beyond the national level; and
(c) an increasingly hegemonic discourse of neoliberalism that encourages and rewards internationalisation of institutions (mainly at the tertiary level) and academic mobility for both students and higher education academic staff.
