Analysing Knowledge Networks in Higher Education Policymaking: Uncovering the Power of Networks in the Finland–EU Context

Abstract

Looking at higher education policy actors connecting the Finnish and the European Union (EU) contexts, this volume explores the power and influence of networks on decision-making and the utilisation of knowledge within higher education policy. It is unique in providing a new understanding of how European higher education policies are shaped and implemented in day-to-day policymaking. Building on existing literature and robust empirical work to focus on EU–Finland knowledge networks, the book develops a novel methodological approach that combines social network analysis, network ethnography, interviews, and observation data to capture how networks can significantly affect the way higher education is governed. Understanding how policy is shaped through knowledge networks is crucial as the EU faces political challenges to its cohesion from internal and external pressures through authoritarian and populist ideologies. This book represents a critical starting point for considering how to theorise, understand, and question the interdependence of knowledge and policy. The topical book will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and postgraduate students involved with education policy and politics, higher education studies, and international and comparative education more broadly.