A geopolitics of knowledge analysis of higher education internationalisation in Kazakhstan

Abstract

This critical interpretive paper deploys Walter Mignolo's geopolitics of knowledge concept to examine higher education internationalisation in Kazakhstan. Amidst growing concerns about economic and environmental sustainability, elitism and cognitive justice, among other critical issues, internationalisation remains a vital government policy. By tracing Kazakhstan's development since independence from the Soviet Union and focusing on key higher education development policy frameworks, the paper argues and illustrates that: (1) the internationalisation of higher education in Kazakhstan promotes a specific representation of the world that is considered universal and modern; (2) the internationalisation of higher education in Kazakhstan illustrates the existing hierarchical global higher education system that is dominated by the West as centres of knowledge and learning while allocating other countries peripheral roles; and (3) the geopolitics of knowledge concept enables the reading of higher education internationalisation beyond what is knowledge to who, why and where knowledge is produced. The data for this paper came from a qualitative study that involved 15 semi‐structured interviews with graduates who studied abroad at Western universities through the government‐sponsored Bolashak Scholarship. Three focus group sessions with 21 graduate students at Nazarbayev University complemented the interviews. The qualitative data suggest that Mignolo's geopolitics of knowledge offers a close‐to‐perfect description of the internationalisation of higher education in Kazakhstan. The conclusion drawn from this post‐Soviet study is the universalisation of Western knowledge as nations utilise it for meaningful development, despite decolonial and cognitive justice concerns.

Navigating the Field of English Higher Education in Kazakhstan: Advocating for Habitus and Capital Engagement of Speakers of Languages other than English

“…Thus, internationalisation has enabled Kazakhstani universities to engage in joint educational research projects, offer joint degree programs, facilitate student and faculty exchanges, and attain international accreditation. However, students, particularly those whose dominant languages are Russian or Kazakh, must demonstrate proficiency in English academic discourse and practices, signalling a loss of their linguistic capital and probably undervaluing students' habitus and cultural capital, shown to perpetuate social class disparities (Authors, 2024;Hwami, 2023).…”

“…With the adoption of the Law on Higher Education (1993), the number of EMI programmes offered in various disciplines increased significantly (Hartley et al, 2016). Thus, trilingual education significantly shaped the number of universities in Kazakhstan offering EMI programs, which grew to 42 out of 125 institutions by 2018, offering full and partial EMI courses representing 13.4% and 10.2%, respectively, among postgraduates and undergraduates (Hwami, 2023). Private universities such as Almaty Management University, Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Strategic Research (KIMEP), and Suleyman Demirel University (SDU) played a crucial role in increasing EMI provision and promoting international education opportunities for Kazakhstani students (Perna & Jumakulov, 2015).…”

“…This gap underscores the need for critical investigation into the impact of EMI on stakeholders' national, cultural, and linguistic identities (Phyak, 2021;Fang & Hu, 2022). Moreover, English is a significant gatekeeper, shaping domestic and international study opportunities and influencing the pursuit of Western-style education among students, thereby perpetuating social class distinctions (Authors, 2024;Hwami, 2023). However, existing studies primarily focus on students, leaving a blind spot on professors' habitus entanglement and the renegotiation of their capital.…”

“…Bourdieu's (1977Bourdieu's ( , 1990Bourdieu's ( , 1996 Habitus, Field and Capital concepts are underexplored in Central Asia (Authors, 2024). They can offer a framework for understanding the social dynamics of HE, including the distribution of power and status, the production and dissemination of knowledge, and the role of cultural capital in shaping these processes (Hwami, 2023). For example, the HE Field reveals how EMI endorses new rules and legitimate actions or practices and perceptions of good practice.…”

“…Second, introducing EMI as a mere language shift makes Bourdieu's Habitus concept highly relevant in Kazakhstani higher education. Professors' Habitus, shaped by their Soviet, social, and historical backgrounds, have evolved and are probably deeply interwoven into the fabric of their practices, existing as implicit and culturally specific ways of knowing and are often underexplored or framed as their English language problem (Authors, 2024;Hwami, 2023). Kazakhstani universities are probably confronting what Bourdieu coined the "hysteresis effect," which is when an individual's primary habitus continues to generate behaviours aligned with the previous field, resulting in the "inertia" of habitus (Bourdieu, 1990, p. 62).…”