ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that comparative studies are moving from a basis in research to a mode of governance, that is, to a way of governing by means of comparison, benchmarking, and the sharing of 'good practices'. In order to overcome this tendency, it suggests that it is crucial to reconcile history with comparison or, to put it differently, to impregnate comparative approaches with historical thinking. Then it explains how this tendency toward a mode of governance works in the European Union, in which new ways of governing by means of knowledge are extremely popular. In this sense, the idea of 'knowledge as politics', or the transformation of a certain kind of knowledge into a powerful political instrument, must come to be understood. The chapter addresses the will to know, underlining the importance of openness and eclecticism to fostering inspiring ideas in the educational field, mainly in societies of the unknown.
