Managing Processes of Globalization:: A Spotlight on the University as a Key Institution in the 21st Century

Abstract

This article looks at the heightened role of universities in the global knowledge age. Flows of people, ideas, and also capital in the academic realm continue to multiply, propelling global connectedness and contributing to the reshuling of the hitherto prevailing political orders. Universities are understood as places where these lows are instigated and controlled. The article adds insight to the ield of global higher education by emphasizing universities in the Global South, to better understand their role in shaping processes of globalization. Four arguments guide the reader, the irst of which explains how universities have been discursively rescaled. The second argument looks at university-state relations and increased institutional power. Differentiation in the higher-education landscape and academic hierarchies are examined in the third part, while section four reveals shortcomings of mobility igures aggregated at national level.