ABSTRACT
The chapter examines John Urry's arguments regarding the theoretical significance of mobilities in understanding contemporary social processes, and considers some of the challenges that the mobilities paradigm poses for policy researchers in education. Urry's insights have major implications for policy research in education, in a number of ways. To begin with, the insights undermine approaches to educational policy research that are fundamentally grounded in national structures and organizational practices. In circulating educational ideas, intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) such as the World Bank and the organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD) play a major role, often around a particular set of educational values and reform priorities. Indeed, it is not possible to understand the global popularity of neoliberal ideas in education without appreciating the ways in which their global circulation has been promoted by certain educational activists, IGOs and global corporations.
