Knowledge Politics and Policies

Knowledge, understood to be the foundation on which societies coalesce and economies thrive, has become central to contemporary politics and policymaking across governance levels. This section is interested in theoretical, empirical, and comparative contributions that investigate the role of politics and policy in the multi-level, multi-issue, and multi-actor governance of knowledge. In focusing on role, we refer to effects that ideas (including political ideologies), actors (both individual and organisational, including political parties and transnational entities), policy instruments, and institutions have on the governance, creation, dissemination, and transfer of knowledge. Panels will be oriented around these roles, key empirical questions, theories or methodologies. The Section continues the work on knowledge policy domains from the past 10 ECPR conferences (previously under the titles ‘Politics of Higher Education, Research and Innovation’ and ‘Europe of Knowledge’). It continues to welcome scholars, globally and interdisciplinarily, from all theoretical and methodological approaches. Proposals should have a clear conceptual framework, describe research design, data and methods, as well as highlight the expected contribution. The following panels have all been pre-proposed by the chairs listed: 1. Moving from being objects of to becoming subjects in policy-making - The role of universities as knowledge institutions in contemporary policy-making With the more diverse policy-making environment as a backdrop and increasingly salient and contentious policy-making dynamics as part of their new political environment, universities have to adapt their own strategies to influence policy-making on their own behalf. This panel aims to explore these dynamics and invites proposals that focus either on universities role as objects of or subjects in policy-making, as well as the transition between these roles. 2. Knowledge Enclosures, Capitalising Education and the Economic Power of "Mute Compulsion" In this panel we seek papers that will engage with the recent work of Soren Mau’s – "Mute Compulsion" (2023) – and use his re-reading, renovation and updating of Marx’s work - to develop a rigorous analysis of the enclosure of education sectors, their progressive subsumption and transformation into capitalist markets. 3. Embracing the future: Organizational aspiration and adaptability in higher education The panel aims to draw together contributions that address ways in which organizational aspiration is voiced and constructed and maintained by contemporary universities – their presidency, administration, faculty or students –, but also research that addresses aspiration in its operation: the way universities adapt in view of (future) environmental expectations or fail to deliver on their promises. 4. Challenging power in Artificial Intelligence politics and policies This panel invites theoretical and empirical contributions examining the distribution of power and roles between governments, big tech, experts, and civil society in Artificial Intelligence (AI) policymaking. Potential questions to consider include: What is the role of governments in balancing the power relationships in AI? Why do certain types of expertise (technical) exert more power in AI than others (social, political, cultural)? 5. Shifting Geopolitics and Higher Education Dynamics: Critical perspectives This panel examines the implications of shifting geopolitics on higher education policy and practices. We invite papers taking a critical geopolitics and other relevant critical lenses to address how changes in global order, rising nationalist sentiment, the emergence of new violent conflicts, climate related emergencies, etc. impact the higher education sphere in various parts of the world. 6. Unpacking the Migration-Higher Education Nexus: Actors, Policies, and Power The nexus between migration and higher education policies have long attracted scholars interested in identifying the effects of higher education internationalisation and the global competition for talent. This panel invites scholars researching the migration-higher education nexus to examine the evolution and effects of changing policies and practices. 7. University Presidents and the Question of Organizational Actorhood This panel aims to critically discuss and analyse the role and power of university presidents and thereby contribute to research on the question of universities’ organizational actorhood. It distinguishes between two perspectives (gradually centralizing organizational actors and loosely coupled systems) that offer different ways to think about the role of university presidents in the context of competition. 8. Interest organizations in knowledge politics and policies The panel focuses on organizations representing interests of various stakeholders in the knowledge policy domain. The panel is particularly interested in studies that analyze the role of these organizations in the policy process, how they develop their policy agendas, how they relate to their members, their internal organization and operation, as well as their positioning towards other policy actors. 9. Advancing the study of science diplomacy Papers in the panel will explore the limits and potential new theories, approaches, topical areas, and conceptions of power and global actorness rooted in knowledge as it impacts on global affairs. 10. The European Universities Initiative between consolidation and expansion Since the launch of the European Universities Initiative in 2017, the alliances have increased in terms of geographical spread while deepening their engagement through collaboration and partnerships. Key questions of the panel include who (actors/stakeholders) is involved in the expansion and consolidation of the alliances, what empirical evidence we have about their collaboration and engagement, and to what extent can they serve as a platform for promoting innovation and inclusion. 11. Knowledge Diaspora; Policies, Concerns, and Deficiencies Diaspora communities play a pivotal role in contributing to the advancement of their countries of origin. Papers on this panel will elucidate the knowledge diaspora policies adopted by select countries, examine the tensions that can arise from the implementation of such policies, and explore the multifaceted positionalities of knowledge diaspora members concerning both their source and host countries.