A Globalized and Globalizing référentiel: The Role of the OECD in Constructing Neoliberal Hegemony in the University System

Abstract

The proposed article aims to analyze the construction process of neoliberal hegemony in the university sector. By using the référentiel model, the neoliberalization of the university is interpreted as a specific sectoral dimension of the global référentiel of neoliberalism, which has become hegemonic with differentiated forms in different geo-institutional contexts. The role played in this process by some supranational “mediators” such as the OECD is examined. Following the perspective of interpretive policy analysis, various OECD documents are analyzed to reconstruct the values and norms that have contributed to shaping the university in a neoliberal sense. Furthermore, considering the process of discursive depoliticization as a hegemonic resource capable of naturalizing certain political choices, the discursive depoliticization strategies that have contributed to legitimizing certain courses of action as pragmatic and inevitable choices are analyzed.