Studying "the Political" in International Aid to Education: Methodological Considerations

• The point of departure of this article is an apparent antinomy. On the one hand, there is the powerful argument in political theory on the emergence and consolidation of a post-political condition. On the other hand, research in international and comparative education demonstrates how conflicts and power asymmetries continue to characterize education aid. Attempting to move beyond this antinomy we engage in a methodological discussion on how to study “the political” in education aid landscapes with strong post-political features. By reviewing the two sets of literature, and bringing them into conversation, we extract five methodological tenets: (i) taking “the political” seriously, (ii) looking beyond face value when scrutinizing policy arrangements, (iii) exploring everyday wars of position, (iv) focusing on subjects and situated practices, and (v) moving beyond scales by analyzing connections across territorial entities. The article primarily makes a methodological contribution but ultimately the findings can also be relevant to the world of policy making.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Social och ekonomisk geografi -- Kulturgeografi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Social and Economic Geography -- Human Geography (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Tvärvetenskapliga studier inom samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Social och ekonomisk geografi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Social and Economic Geography (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

education; international aid; international development; methodology; post-foundational; post-politics; the political

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