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Perforated Nations, Universities, and the Zonal Politics of Knowledge Production

Susan L. Robertson, Christopher Muellerleile Orcid Logo, Jian Wu, Kris Olds

Geo-Politics of Higher Education, World Yearbook 2025

Swansea University Author: Christopher Muellerleile Orcid Logo

Abstract

A common assumption regarding universities is that they can be mapped onto what Quinn Slobodian (2023: 2) describes, as a “jigsaw of nations” which in turn make up a coherent global system. Yet as he and others (see Sassen 2006) point out, capitalism has always worked by “punching holes in the terri...

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Published in: Geo-Politics of Higher Education, World Yearbook 2025
Published: Abingdon on Thames Routledge 2024
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa66640
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Abstract: A common assumption regarding universities is that they can be mapped onto what Quinn Slobodian (2023: 2) describes, as a “jigsaw of nations” which in turn make up a coherent global system. Yet as he and others (see Sassen 2006) point out, capitalism has always worked by “punching holes in the territory of the nation state, creating zones of exception” (Slobodan, 2023: 3). In this chapter we explore a range of what we call zonal projects and their cultural and economic politics, arguing these are variously shaped by dynamic combinations driven by state and non-state actors (e.g., private venture capitalists) aiming to produce new cultural political economies. We look at four cases, each different, to illustrate a range of bordering processes that include processes of secession and accession, but all of which aim to advance a new zonal (geo)politics of knowledge production in part by repositioning the university. Taken together, these cases: (i) highlight the cultural, political, and economic complexities, involved in creating zones of exception, (ii) point to the need to get beyond non-relational binary accounts of inside/outside, zone/nation, (iii) offer a processual account of secession and accession, and (iv) makes visible shifting strategies over time in relation to challenges and changes in the wider geopolitical and cultural spheres.
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering

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