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Academic Values Against the Commodification of Higher Education

An Episode in Constructing the Discursive Meaning of Higher Education in the Bologna Process

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European Higher Education at the Crossroads

Abstract

The Bologna Process is the central political initiative in the context of the Europeanisation of higher education and perhaps the most influential pan-European policy initiative addressing the higher education field and affecting the national-level policies. The paper investigates the meaning and role of the concept of academic values in the Bologna Process. Academic values as a discursive element appeared in a specific period of the process and were closely associated with listing education on the agenda of WTO negotiations on trade in services. The paper argues that this concept was introduced in function of resistance to global trends to reconceptualise the meaning and nature of higher education, referring to it as a commodity in the global market. This also indicates that the discursive and ideational framework established by the idea of the knowledge society and economy is not the only imaginary in which the visions, ideas, discursive practice and policy goals are created. The discursive meaning of higher education in the Bologna Process takes form on a number of levels or discursive planes, involving several semantic fields.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The BFUG was a permanent body of representatives (civil servants) from the Bologna Process member states. Their central task was to co-ordinate the discussion and draft communiqués that were to be adopted by the ministers. Within the BFUG framework, thematic seminars were also organised in order to address the most salient issues and topics in higher education.

  2. 2.

    ESIB – The National Unions of Students in Europe is today called the European Students’ Union (ESU).

  3. 3.

    The Sorbonne Declaration (1998) was signed by the ministers responsible for higher education of France, Germany, Italy and Great Britain.

  4. 4.

    There were 29 signatory countries of the Bologna Declaration (1999). This marks the official start of the pan-European process that has gradually included more countries.

  5. 5.

    The author of this paper attended the Berlin summit as a member of the national delegation of the Republic of Slovenia and therefore some accounts reflect his own personal observations and memories of the event. In addition this chapter is also based on accounts and personal archives of interviewees 1, 4 and 6.

  6. 6.

    The BFUG meeting occurred on 18.2.2003. BFUG members were signatory states ministry officials, responsible for preparing the communiqué for Berlin summit of ministers.

  7. 7.

    The minutes of the BFUG meeting in Athens (18 February 2003) were obtained from the personal archives of Dionisis Kladis, responsible on behalf of the Greek ministry to co-ordinate the BFUG during the Greek presidency of the EU.

  8. 8.

    This paragraph is based on various documents (e.g. correspondence, draft communiqué versions, amendments, comments of national delegations) conserved by Dionisis Kladis and his account on the events (Interviews 3 and 8).

  9. 9.

    A letter from the French Ministry of Youth, Education and Research signed by Daniel Vitry, Director of International Affairs and Co-operation, addressed to Mr Muller-Solgar, Chairman of the BPG and Mr Dionyssis Kladis, Chairman of the BFUG, undated. Obtained from the personal archives of Pavel Zgaga, the official Bologna Process Rapporteur between Prague and Berlin.

  10. 10.

    Ibid.

  11. 11.

    In one of the intermediate versions from Bonn on 19.5.2003 included the phrase …the need to base all international cooperation as well as any trade in higher education on clear and transparent standards for quality… (from the personal archives of Dionisis Kladis – Interview 3).

  12. 12.

    A letter from the French Ministry of Youth, Education and Research signed by Daniel Vitry, Director of International Affairs and Co-operation, dated 30 July 2003, addressed to Mr. Muller-Solgar, Chairman of the BPG and Mr. Guido Possa, Chairman of the BFUG. Also obtained with the courtesy of Pavel Zgaga, the Bologna Process Rapporteur between Prague and Berlin.

  13. 13.

    At the meeting in Berlin two other amendments were proposed by the delegations of the French Community of Belgium, and Croatia.

  14. 14.

    The original form of the amendment is taken from the organisers’ handout. The handout is kept in the author’s personal archives.

  15. 15.

    Published by UNESCO and OECD in 2005, available at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/27/51/35779480.pdf (20.10.2010).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Educational Policy Studies (CEPS), University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Klemen Miklavič

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  1. Klemen Miklavič
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Correspondence to Klemen Miklavič .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

    Adrian Curaj

  2. Institute of Education, London, United Kingdom

    Peter Scott

  3. , Sociology Department, Bucharest University, Bucharest, Romania

    Lazăr Vlasceanu

  4. European University Association, Brussels, Belgium

    Lesley Wilson

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Miklavič, K. (2012). Academic Values Against the Commodification of Higher Education. In: Curaj, A., Scott, P., Vlasceanu, L., Wilson, L. (eds) European Higher Education at the Crossroads. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3937-6_7

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