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Critical International Political Economy and Mechanisms/Pathways of Influence

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The Trajectory of Global Education Policy

Part of the book series: International and Development Education ((INTDE))

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Abstract

In recent decades, various perspectives on how education policymaking is transnationally influenced have gained currency, as discussed in Chap. 1. However, for my analysis of the policy formation and global trajectory of the Education with Community Participation (EDUCO) program, I draw on critical international political economy. In this chapter, in addition to explaining this theoretical perspective, I also elaborate on the particular forms of influence to which I will be attentive in my analysis of the processes through which EDUCO was created and then went global. These forms of influence are derived from the work of Dale (J Educ Pol 14(1):1–17, 1999) and Samoff (Foreign aid to education: Managing global transfers and exchanges. In L. Chishom & G. Steiner-Khamsi (Eds.), South-south cooperation in education and development (pp. 123–156). New York: Teachers College Press, 2009) and relate to mechanisms and pathways that impact national education policymaking.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Hay (2002) refers to the approach just described as the constructivist institutional approach to examining global political economy.

  2. 2.

    For more on critical theory generally, see Rasmussen (1996); for more on the critical political economy approach as applied in relation to education reform, see Dale and Robertson (2012) and Robertson and Dale (2009).

  3. 3.

    See Section “The Future of Global Education Policy Research” in Chap. 1 for more on the work of Verger et al. (2016).

  4. 4.

    Barnett and Finnemore (2005) are, in turn, building on Max Weber.

  5. 5.

    Note, however, that semiotics is not the only way that international forces can influence national-level policymakers. The range of forms of influence examined in this study will be discussed in a later section of this chapter.

  6. 6.

    I do not discuss Dale’s (1999) notion of imposition because this idea is elaborated in a more nuanced fashion through the mechanisms defined by Samoff (2009). For the same reason, I do not include dissemination or cross-national achievement tests, as suggested by Samoff (2009).

  7. 7.

    See Klees (2016) for a critical discussion of human capital theory, which has been dominant in guiding thinking about education since the 1970s.

  8. 8.

    These goals, as reiterated in 2000, were (a) to expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, (b) to ensure that all children complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality, (c) to ensure learning needs are met through equitable access to appropriate programs, (d) to ensure equitable access to basic education for adults, with 50 percent improvement in adult literacy, (e) to eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education, and (f) to improve quality of education and ensure excellence so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy, and essential life skills (UNESCO 2000).

  9. 9.

    In spite of the lofty goals, both critics and proponents acknowledge limitations with these processes (Dijkstra 2005; Gottschalk 2005; IMF and World Bank 2005; Vavrus and Seghers 2010). For an example of the sector-wide approach in practice, see Edwards and Brehm (2015).

  10. 10.

    On the topic of socialization, a broader discussion could be had about the influence of obtaining university degrees outside one’s home country. It is not uncommon for elites to travel abroad for the purpose of higher education—frequently to the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, though increasingly to other countries. Furthermore, to the extent that both policymakers and representatives of international organizations tend to study such fields as economics and public policy (where a narrow range of ideas and perspectives are taught regarding the right way to do development), these actors have shared epistemic perspectives and shared concerns, orientations, and priorities for policy. Of course, it is not necessary to travel abroad to access or to be trained in mainstream economic thought, as neoclassical economics is commonly found in universities around the world. Moreover, for the purpose of this chapter, a separate mechanism is not included here related to “education abroad” because it is seen as being too broad and too disconnected from the focus on policymaking.

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  1. Department of Educational Foundations, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

    D. Brent Edwards Jr.

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Edwards, D.B. (2018). Critical International Political Economy and Mechanisms/Pathways of Influence. In: The Trajectory of Global Education Policy. International and Development Education. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50875-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50875-1_3

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