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Refiguring the European Student: Mixed Transnational Feelings

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Critical Analyses of Educational Reforms in an Era of Transnational Governance

Part of the book series: Educational Governance Research ((EGTU,volume 7))

Abstract

The transnational independent learner has become the new hero of the European learning space. In order to describe the mode of existence of the independent learner, an analysis in terms of deinstitutionalization falls short. Such analysis focuses on what disappeared but easily loses out of sight what comes instead. Especially in the case of the independent learner, the risk is taking the proclaimed ambition of liberation and emancipation of the learner from institutional settings for real. The person of the learner is not just what simply appears when the student is liberated from national and institutional frames. It is the carefully measured, calculated, monitored and framed architecture of new learning spaces that allow for recognizing oneself as a person, that is, as someone with specific learning needs. The need for authorization and recognition is part of the learner’s ontological make-up and means that the learner’s mode of existence is susceptible to verification, calculation and tracing. It is argued that this is the present-day manifestation of what Foucault termed as the ‘double bind’; what turns someone into an independent learner is subjecting her at once to governmental intervention.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Education and Society, University of Leuven, Vesaliusstraat 2, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Maarten Simons

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  1. Maarten Simons
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Correspondence to Maarten Simons .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Elisabeth Hultqvist

  2. Department of Education and Special Education, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Sverker Lindblad

  3. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    Thomas S. Popkewitz

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Simons, M. (2018). Refiguring the European Student: Mixed Transnational Feelings. In: Hultqvist, E., Lindblad, S., Popkewitz, T. (eds) Critical Analyses of Educational Reforms in an Era of Transnational Governance. Educational Governance Research, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61971-2_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61971-2_10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-61969-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-61971-2

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