Publication Announcement: The State, Business, and Education: Public-private Partnerships Revisited

NORRAG’s upcoming book, titled The State, Business, and Education: Public-private Partnerships Revisited, is edited by Gita Steiner-Khamsi, Professor and NORRAG Director, and Alexandra Draxler, NORRAG Senior Advisor.

This is the first volume in a new open-access book series entitled NORRAG Series in International Education and Development to be published by Edward Elgar, London. The books in the series intend to generate an international debate on emerging trends in education and provide space for authors that represent diverse perspectives and knowledge communities.

The first volume opens new horizons on the debate about public-private partnerships in education as they diversify, expand and increasingly blur the distinction between the public and private sectors.

Several decades after the introduction and promotion by powerful international organizations and bilateral donors of PPPs in education, the reciprocal influence of the public and private sectors has seen the two come to behave similarly in many regards. This book brings together new country-level research from Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Rwanda, countries recipient of refugees from Syria, and the USA. The country research is framed by two chapters that present, first, a broad-scale analysis of a growing trend that weakens international and national commitments to the right to free and relevant education and blurs the boundaries between public and private goods, and second a framework for assessing the legitimacy and effectiveness of public-private partnerships.

This book greatly benefited from a partnership with Education International (EI) and with the Open Society Foundations (OSF). Both organizations have for years supported research initiatives that investigate the impact of privatization on public education

The book will be presented at the upcoming CIES conference in Mexico City on 25-29 March 2018 and will be published in May. This presentation will be part of NORRAG’s recently announced involvement in a range of events in and around the conference, including panel sessions and a networking reception.

The second volume in the series, Philanthropy in Education: Diverse Perspectives and Global Trends, is planned for publication in 2019. This volume will contribute to the emerging debates on the approaches and role of philanthropy in international education development.

With the expansion in both the number and influence of philanthropic organizations working in the education sector the second volume takes a unique perspective by bringing together authors from a range of backgrounds to explore some of the most pressing issues facing those working in and engaging with philanthropy and education today.

More information about the book series and The State, Business, and Education: Public-private Partnerships Revisited will be published on NORRAG social media channels as well as on our website.