We explore the central role of neoliberalism within portrayals of internationalisation in higher education. Through an analysis of four features of internationalisation, we suggest that they embody a complex entanglement of neoliberal categories and assumptions with other, primarily progressive humanitarian ideals. This framing of internationalisation has three affects. One, humanitarian ideals coupled with neoliberal categories serve to normalise inequalities, turning internationalisation into a meritocratic global race, focusing on celebrating the possibility of the few who can achieve, instead of the embedded inequalities within the system, which disadvantage the many. Two, this allows neoliberal practices to be promoted and advanced through the discourse of internationalisation and its association with progressive humanitarian values. Three, this neoliberal framing does not explain the nature and motives for the internationalisation of HE in many nations and we demonstrate this by analysing internationalisation in China, Israel and Cuba. We suggest that internationalisation in HE cannot be adequately explained by analyses which rely on neoliberalism, and particularly the progressive version which prevails in the literature and we argue for a more nuanced, historical and contextually-dependent understanding of internationalisation.
Internationalisation in higher education tends to be portrayed as a value-neutral intervention driven predominately by economic motives yet advocated and prescribed for humanitarian purposes. In this study we investigate how internationalisation takes shape in an institution which is characterised by political controversy that hinders and shapes its internationalisation efforts; we explore the rationales for and enactment of internationalisation at Ariel University (AU), Israel's only university located in the West Bank, part of the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt). We challenge the dominant framing of internationalisation in higher education and shed light on the nature, purposes and forms of internationalisation.
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