Regionalism and Higher Education in South America: A comparative analysis for understanding internationalization

PERROTTA, DANIELA

Journal of Supranational Policies of Education

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

Lugar: Madrid; Año: 2016 p. 54 - 81

2340-6720

Current region-building projects are crafting higher education governance around the world. In fact, almost every regional scheme has launched programs and policies to promote the coordination, cooperation and/or integration of higher education systems and institutions. This paper focuses in the South American region and develops a comparative analysis of regional schemes, focusing on four cases: the Common Market of the South (Mercosur), the Bolivarian Alliance for the People of Our America ? People?s Trade Agreement (Alba-TCP), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Pacific Alliance (AP). These regional projects ?regardless its ideological orientation? are delivering policies to promote university cooperation, coordination and/or integration. We argue that at least three trends of internationalization of the university are being diffused and consolidated through regionalism: first, a status-quo internationalization (hegemonic); second, a revisionist internationalization; third, a counter-hegemonic internationalization. The Pacific Alliance reveals the first type; Mercosur is the revisionist case; and ALBA-TCP represents an attempt of a counter-hegemonic process. UNASUR is an ?in-between? case, as the Atlantic versus Pacific divide has not yet been resumed. We unfold the argument by pursuing a comparative approach