Bologna Process

Abstract

In 1999 the ministers of education from 29 European countries met at the University of Bologna, Italy, and decided to create a common European space of higher education. By 2015, 48 countries were included in this process. In 2001 the European Commission, advocating the advancement of European integration, joined this bold project. Bologna stands for the medieval tradition of scholars and students wandering about and exchanging ideas across Europe. This small elite, communicating in Latin as its common language, pioneered in creating a first European space of higher education. The universities affiliated to each other across Europe were the centers of the emerging European culture, which was based on the rediscovery of Hellenistic philosophy and Roman law.

Critical viewpoints on the Bologna Process in Europe: Can we do otherwise?

“…According to the results, a knowledge-based economy (Jessop et al, 2008; Münch, 2016) supports the idea of promoting economic capital, which in turn increase the probability of influencing curriculum decisions. When linked to market competition, this also leads to a counter effect in the harmonization effort assumed through ideas embedded in the BP.…”

“…Thus, the idea that BP members joining forces would level out inequalities is disputable. Münch (2014, 2016) has discussed the global struggle for excellence that universities must face in terms of academic capitalism and in relation to the European space.…”

“…[T]he [BP] combines global forces of transnational integration and national disintegration, of replacing hierarchies by markets and public service by private service involving greater social inequality within national societies […The BP is] way beyond the European space of [HE] – not only a European response to globalization but is itself also part of the forces driving globalization and the transformation of social life coming about with that process. (Münch, 2016: 3)…”