Putting higher education in its place in (East Asian) political economy

Abstract

This article relates changes in higher education and research in East Asian societies to recent trends in political economy and, in particular, the reorientation of developmental states in the region. The developmental state is oriented to catch-up competitiveness and, as the horizon of development shifts, so do its appropriate institutional forms and strategies. Catch-up competitiveness is guided by economic imaginaries, often linked to geoeconomic, geopolitical, and broader societal imaginaries, whose hegemony depends on particular discursive and disciplinary practices. The shift in the roles of HE and research is related to the reorientation of developmental states from export-oriented, investment-led growth to knowledgeintensive, investment-led growth, supplemented in some cases by efforts to create international financial hubs to exploit a global trend towards financialisation. These themes are explored through comparison of selected East Asian economies/societies. The article ends with some general conclusions about the state's continuing role in higher education and its internationalisation in the region.

Internationalisation and migrant academics: the hidden narratives of mobility

“…Across Europe, the evolution of the Higher Education Research Area, and a more intensified education and lifelong learning policy since 2000, led to the adoption of 'knowledge mobility' as the 'fifth freedom'-a core discourse in the Bologna Strategy but also the European Union policy developments (Chou and Gornitzka 2014;Council of the European Union 2009;European Commission 2013;EHEA 2012). These issues raise normative questions about the power differentials between institutions and countries in the new global economy of knowledge (Fahey and Kenway 2010;Jessop 2016;Pavlin et al 2013). …”

“…Internationalisation is integral to the global knowledge economy (Jessop 2016;OECD 2004;Verger 2010). The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) endorsed 'cross-border higher education' that can meet 'human, social, economic and cultural needs' (Vincent-Lancrin and Pfotenhauer 2012:5).…”

Varieties of academic capitalism and entrepreneurial universities

“…This need not be limited to commercial entrepreneurship but can extend to social entrepreneurship oriented to social problems rather than private profits. The fifth kind of innovation can also be related to the shifting horizons of catch-up competitiveness, whether at a local, regional, national or supranational level (Jessop 2016) and to efforts to engage in innovation-led development and expand the scope and size of the HER 'market'.…”

New managerialism as an organisational form of neoliberalism

“…The market-informed human capital approach to education was first articulated as a policy objective in Ireland in the highly influential Investment in Education Report (1966); the massive expansion of free secondary education in 1967 and the subsequent development of Technological Institutes of higher education (originally known as Regional Technical Colleges) were premised on human capital assumptions. As was true in many other countries in Europe, a knowledge-based imaginary (KBI) developed over time: it sought to valorise 'knowledge' as the key driver of economic growth, wealth generation, and job creation in the private, public, and 'third' sectors (Hazelkorn, 2011;Loxley, Seery & Walsh, 2014;Jessop, 2016). While the cultural and personal value of education was formally endorsed, a new emphasis on entrepreneurship emerged in the first decade of the 21st century: 'the provision of the innovative and creative graduates equipped with the skills needed to perform successfully in a competitive environment and contribute to fostering an enterprise culture and the nurturing of entrepreneurs' was proclaimed as a key part of the 'vision' for higher education (HEA, 2008, p. 12).…”