Following New Philanthropy by Network Ethnography: How Did the Varkey Foundation Land and Expand in Latin America?

Abstract

Purpose New philanthropy develops new forms of policy “problem-solving” through the influx of private actors’ money and ideas. It adopts singular configurations across different policy spaces, with implications for education governance. We address this phenomenon by analyzing the Varkey Foundation's (VF) “landing” and “expansion” in Latin America. VF is a global philanthropic organization registered in the United Kingdom in 2011 with a main hub in Argentina, where it landed in 2017. Design/Approach/Methods We use network ethnography to examine the influence of new philanthropy on education governance as this phenomenon demands new methods to grasp the “realities” of governing beyond conventional ways and understanding policy mobilities. Findings Results indicate how VF “landed” in a little pro-market space via productive uses of policy networks. The second phase of data collection and analysis presents further consolidation of VF in Argentina, its expansion into Latin America, and its establishment as a legitimate education policy actor. Originality/Value This study provides new evidence and insights into how policy networks enable new philanthropy to land and consolidate within national boundaries and, later, across the region as a legitimate actor in education.

(Re)drawing Lines in Our Research: Using Policy Mobilities and Network Ethnography to Research Global Policy Networks in Education

“…This special issue responds directly to these emergent research realities to chart how policy mobility and cognate approaches, particularly network ethnography, can be employed to elucidate how policy unfolds in a variety of diverse spaces and contexts. Spanning Latin America (Matovich & Esper, 2023), China , Australia (Rowe, 2023), the UK (Gellai, 2023), and even the in-person meeting rooms of United Nations personnel (Stahelin & McKenzie, 2023), all contributors have usefully shown how network ethnography, undergirded by a policy mobility research sensibility, can draw attention to the varied actors, spaces, and relations (often obscured and unseen) through which a policy (network) is made. I have often engaged with similar processes and concerns in my own research into global education policymaking and governance over the past decade, and frequently in collaboration with some of the contributors to this issue.…”