Kerstin Martens - Böcker

Actors and Agency in Global Social Governance seeks to advance our understanding of the global dimension of social policy by applying the notion of global social governance on actors, their relations to each other, and their pathways as well as their footprints of influence in the specific policy fields of social concern in which they are active. Focusing on a broad array of individual and corporate global social policy actors, ranging from internationally operating intergovernmental organizations to state formations and NGOs, the contributions to this volume draw a fuller picture of agency in global social policy than what current accounts provide. It considers the multiple facets of individual scope and legitimacy for a particular actor in conjunction with the configuration of global social governance as characterised by multi-centred and multi-scaled obstacles as well as diverse forms of collaboration. The volume studies the contextualised actor's range and power in designing, shaping, and facilitating various global social policies. Thus, the contributions discuss the role of particular (corporate) actors within global social policy structures and assess the impact of a number of key organizations, states, groups, and individuals in the governance of global social policy. At the same time, a variety of social policy fields in which these actors are involved are addressed, including labour market issues, family policy, health policy, education policy, migration issues, and global (re)distribution via various forms of development aid or remittances.

This volume is devoted to the analysis of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and its role in international and national policy making. On its 50th anniversary, the OECD enjoys widely acknowledged international standing. Despite this, it has so far remained a rarely researched and analyzed organization. This book is thus a pioneering work: it fills a long-overdue gap in presenting a theoretically guided and empirically rich analysis of the OECD as a political actor. It explores its role in political processes through various case studies in a variety of policy fields. By conceptualizing the contributions to this volume around the concept of mechanisms of governance, it explores how and to what extent the OECD provides international incentives for national policy making. The volume collects a set of ten contributions on the OECD and its activities in core fields of its commitment as an 'economic organization', such as economic and labor market policy, tax issues, finance or financial crime, but also in complementary fields in which the organization is active today despite its original economic focus, such as education, biotechnology, health, family issues, and migration. The case studies presented in this volume are an interdisciplinary collection from different academic perspectives, including political science, international relations, law, and organization studies. The book provides a current and wide-ranging analysis of this organization including its constraints and opportunities in policy making.

This pioneering volume is devoted to the analysis of education from the perspective of political science, applying the full range of the discipline’s analytical perspectives and methodological tools. The contributions demonstrate how education policy can be explored systematically from a variety of political science perspectives: comparative politics, public policy analysis and public administration, international relations, and political theory. By applying a governance perspective on education policy, the authors explore the changing institutional settings, new actors’ constellations, horizontal modes of interaction and public-private regulatory mechanisms with respect to the role of the state in this policy field. The volume deals with questions that are not merely concerned with the content or outcomes of education, but it explicitly takes a political science view on how education politics work. Including country case studies from the Americas and across Europe, institutional analyses of education policy in the EU and the WTO/GATS as well as normative reflections on the topic, the volume provides a grand overview on the diversity of issues in education policy. Dealing with a so far neglected field of policy, this book provides a comprehensive and accessible analysis of a rapidly changing topic. Education in Political Science will be of interest to scholars and students of political science, education, sociology and economics.

This pioneering volume is devoted to the analysis of education from the perspective of political science, applying the full range of the discipline’s analytical perspectives and methodological tools. The contributions demonstrate how education policy can be explored systematically from a variety of political science perspectives: comparative politics, public policy analysis and public administration, international relations, and political theory. By applying a governance perspective on education policy, the authors explore the changing institutional settings, new actors’ constellations, horizontal modes of interaction and public-private regulatory mechanisms with respect to the role of the state in this policy field. The volume deals with questions that are not merely concerned with the content or outcomes of education, but it explicitly takes a political science view on how education politics work. Including country case studies from the Americas and across Europe, institutional analyses of education policy in the EU and the WTO/GATS as well as normative reflections on the topic, the volume provides a grand overview on the diversity of issues in education policy. Dealing with a so far neglected field of policy, this book provides a comprehensive and accessible analysis of a rapidly changing topic. Education in Political Science will be of interest to scholars and students of political science, education, sociology and economics.

This timely book investigates the emergence of data-for-accountability as a governing tool in education. Five leading scholars explore its evolution over time and across regions, highlighting how datafication in education benefits some and disadvantages others.The authors trace the origins of using data for accountability in education back to the 1990s, demonstrating how various actors have adapted and tailored this trend, thus diversifying its use as a governance tool. They examine the rise of student testing, performance-based evaluation and governance by numbers to reveal the political, economic and pedagogical uses and abuses of data. Drawing on a variety of methods, theories and disciplines, including a combination of macro-, meso-, and microlevel analyses, the authors illustrate how these instruments have taken root globally, why they persist and how their meanings and effects vary across policy contexts.Data for Accountability in Education is a crucial resource for scholars, students and practitioners in comparative education and international education policy, as well as those engaged with the sociology of education. Policymakers working with educational data will also find the book a valuable reference point for understanding accountability in education.

This book investigates and discusses the phenomenon of internationalization of education policy and its consequences for national policymaking processes. By comparing educational outcomes and actors' reactions in different countries, it provides detailed insights into a highly contested policy field.

This book investigates and discusses the phenomenon of internationalization of education policy and its consequences for national policymaking processes. By comparing educational outcomes and actors' reactions in different countries, it provides detailed insights into a highly contested policy field.

Our knowledge about the involvement of IOs varies significantly by policy fields, and we know comparatively little about the specific roles of IOs in social policies.This volume enhances and systematizes our understanding of IOs in global social governance.

In this open access volume, the editors identify the trajecto­ries and pat­terns displayed by education systems and investigate the causes of change from a global and historical perspective. The contributors argue that the emergence and de­velopment of educa­tion systems can be traced back to inherent national factors, as well as to the interna­tional diffusion of ideas.The research presented in this volume is a wide-ranging analysis and explana­tion of the dynamics of emergence, diffusion, and change in relation to state educa­tion systems. The chapters offer an empirical investigation into whether the global diffusion of West­ern-rational educational content and organizational forms occurs as expected by neoinstitu­tionalist theory, or whether culturally specific developmen­tal paths dominate in different parts of the world.The book will be of interest to students and researchers in various social science disci­plines,including social policy, education, sociology, political science, international relations, organizational the­ory, and economics.

In this open access volume, the editors identify the trajecto­ries and pat­terns displayed by education systems and investigate the causes of change from a global and historical perspective. The contributors argue that the emergence and de­velopment of educa­tion systems can be traced back to inherent national factors, as well as to the interna­tional diffusion of ideas.The research presented in this volume is a wide-ranging analysis and explana­tion of the dynamics of emergence, diffusion, and change in relation to state educa­tion systems. The chapters offer an empirical investigation into whether the global diffusion of West­ern-rational educational content and organizational forms occurs as expected by neoinstitu­tionalist theory, or whether culturally specific developmen­tal paths dominate in different parts of the world.The book will be of interest to students and researchers in various social science disci­plines,including social policy, education, sociology, political science, international relations, organizational the­ory, and economics.