The panel 'Transnational actors in the multi-level governance of knowledge policies' will be part of the General Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), to be held on 26-29 August 2015.
- Chair: Tatiana Fumasoli, ARENA, University of Oslo
- Co-discussants: Tatiana Fumasoli and Åse Gornitzka, ARENA, University of Oslo
Abstract
How does academia engage at the national, European and global levels to respond to the on-going pressures for excellence and relevance? This panel examines two sets of actors at the core of knowledge production and dissemination: academics and universities. Academics are professionals with multiple affiliations and loyalties, as they are embedded in higher education institutions and discipline-based communities; they strive to protect their academic freedom and control of their teaching and research activities (Freidson 2003). Universities have become increasingly relevant actors in the higher education and research fields, since reforms granting institutional autonomy have allowed them to position themselves strategically and affect the systemic level (Fumasoli and Huisman 2013).
We conceive of the ERA and the EHEA as a multi-layered system that provides opportunities for academics and universities to engage in different arenas across levels, in order to defend and lobby for their interests. The panel’s overall objective is to shed light on how such actors influence formulation and implementation of policies in higher education and research, how they contribute in the construction of the ERA and EHEA, more in general of the Europe of Knowledge.
We thus ask three distinct sets of questions:
- How do academics and universities take part in policy processes at European, national, regional and institutional level? What are the factors empowering and constraining them?
- What are the implications for ERA and EHEA of such engagement(s) at multiple levels? How is their governance impacted? How are specific policies and instruments affected?
- What are the consequences for national higher education and research? To what extent academics’ and universities’ strategic agency influences systemic integration at national and European levels?
To make sense of these dynamics we invite both conceptual and empirical papers that use, among others, multi-level governance (Marks 1996, Hooghe and Marks 2001, Piattoni 2010), networking governance (Gornitzka 2009), field theory (Fligstein and McAdam 2012), and advocacy coalition (Sabatier 1998). Some relevant topics to elaborate upon are transnational interest groups, professional and disciplinary associations, strategic alliances (Fligstein 2008).
Paper proposals
To propose a paper for this panel, please contact Tatiana Fumasoli (tatiana.fumasoli[at]arena.uio.no).
Deadline: 4 February 2015