Social order in the de-differentiated society: Deleuzian social theory and the penal institution

The article problematises the assumption that modern society is characterised by institutional differentiation as a unidirectional process. Inspired by Deleuze’s sketch of the ‘society of control’, in this article the authors explore institutional de-differentiation in contemporary society. They illustrate the process of de-differentiation by developments in the penal institution, employing empirical materials from the Norwegian prison system. They show how this institution increasingly integrates (imports) elements from other institutions while expanding (exports) its activities into said institutions, resulting in a blurring of institutional borders. Furthermore, the question of institutional differentiation has been related to the question of social control in modern society. The authors discuss the characteristics of the social order of a de-differentiated society by drawing on Deleuze’s social theory and arguing that de-differentiation gives rise to forms of power and social logics no longer restricted by institutional confinements.

International Institutions in Hard Times: How Complexity Increases Resilience

This paper asks how institutional complexity affects the resilience of global governance. By drawing on sociological differentiation theory, it interprets growing levels of institutional complexity as a process of institutional differentiation which allows the “political system of world society” to mirror the increasing complexity of its social environment. More precisely, the paper suggests that growing levels of institutional complexity enhance the resilience of global governance by providing states with a more diverse set of governance tools and by making backup governance tools available. Against this backdrop, it makes two interrelated contributions to the literature on global governance. First, by applying the concept of resilience to global governance, the paper provides the conceptual basis for a novel research agenda on the ability of contemporary global governance to operate under stress. So far, the analytical toolbox of global governance researchers does not contain a concept that enables a theory-driven analysis of international institutions’ ability to facilitate cooperation when confronted with high levels of stress. Second, it offers a sense of how the central structural feature of contemporary global governance—institutional complexity—affects its resilience. With these two interrelated contributions, the paper seeks to start a scholarly conversation on the resilience of contemporary global governance.

Institutional Differentiation of Public Service Provision in Germany: Corporatisation, Privatisation and Re-Municipalisation

In recent decades, the provision of public services in Germany has increasingly been transferred to institutions outside the core administration. The process has resulted in a considerably changed institutional landscape with multiple effects on its steering, governance and management. The aim of this chapter is to highlight experiences with the four different institutional arrangements of corporatisation, outsourcing, privatisation and re-municipalisation in Germany. Against this background, we provide some lessons learnt for public administration and finally shift attention to the discussion on public versus private service provision.

Diversity in Higher Education: Does Institutional Differentiation Exist in the Nigerian Higher Education System?

The concept of inclusive leadership tends to be understood from different perspectives and contexts. However, there is a consensus that inclusive leadership has proven to be one of the effective leadership styles for ensuring sustainable development. Clearly, this is embedded in the leaders’ ability to recognise bias, demonstrate an open mindset, and most importantly have the ability to acknowledge and empower others, especially those at sub-managerial level who are mostly in touch with the realities of policy implementation within an institution. While studies have proven the impactful role of middle-level management towards organisational performance, it was clear that the middle-level management at the universities are those set of leaders that are usually in full engagement with the university community including lecturers and students, thereby making them wholly responsible for the implementation of university policies at micro level. However, this class of leaders seems to be excluded or not fully recognised in deliberating and taking managerial decisions in the university leadership. Consequently, the intention of this paper is to critically conceptualised the six empirically acknowledged concepts of inclusive leaders and leadership framework by Bourke and Dillon which are courage, commitment, cognisance of bias, curiosity, cultural intelligence as well as collaboration and fully contextualised them in higher educational institutions with respect to straightening the relevance of middle-level management in leading universities.

Discussing the de-secular online: Legitimization and resistance to the political engagement of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Russian blogosphere

To date, there has been an abundance of studies that either cover the interaction of religion and secular institutions or focus on how religious actors seek to reshape institutional differentiation by protecting a ‘sacred life-world’. Nevertheless, the reaction of religious communities to de-secular changes has rarely been studied. This article fills this lacuna by analyzing the debates of Orthodox bloggers over the de-secular strategy of the Moscow Patriarchate (MP). This research draws on Castells’ concept of resisting and legitimizing identities in order to map out the ideological positions that Orthodox bloggers take when arguing for or against de-secularization. The analysis of the blogs reveals that the difference in the way in which the MP’s de-secular agenda is assessed has played a key role in engendering a split within the online Orthodox community along attitudes towards the church’s religious and political power.

Equidad en el acceso y la graduación en la Educación Superior: Reflexiones desde el Cono Sur

The analysis of the equity of mass higher education systems in Latin America indicates how important it is to ensure that young people in the lower income sectors can study and obtain a degree. In this sense, the Southern Cone region constitutes an interesting case study to analyze the results in terms of access and graduation through the implementation of selective admissions policies, institutional diversification and privatization (Chile); or free and unrestricted access in the public sector in a diversified institutional environment (Argentina) or low institutional diversification (Uruguay). The comparative analysis of these countries reveals the relevance of analyzing not only the public and institutional policies of access and sources of funding and the evolution of the indicators regarding access and graduation in each case, but also of studying what occurs in terms of institutional differentiation, its association with social stratification and prestige allocation. Thus, the indicators show improvements over time, but in institutional contexts that maintain certain patterns of social inequality.

Higher Education in Modern Europe

This chapter explores the history of higher education in Europe by considering three intersected dimensions: the global, national, and local spaces or geography of higher education; the contours of the higher education system regarding access, participation, and institutional differentiation; and the cultural, political, social, and economic rationales driving its expansion. Four historical periods are considered: the emergence of the medieval universities and their spread in the feudal order; the demands posed to universities by nation-states and the Enlightenment during the early modern period; the impact of the political and industrial revolutions; and the crisis of mass higher education since 1918. Overall, articulation among the rationales, shapes, and spaces of higher education has changed periodically across history.

Transformation From RTVUs to Open Universities in China

Open and distance education has been playing an important role in China’s development of higher education and lifelong learning. In 2012, the Chinese government approved six large-scale radio and television universities (RTVUs) to become open universities (OUs), including the Open University of China (OUC), Beijing Open University (BJOU), Shanghai Open University (SHOU), Guangdong Open University (GDOU), Jiangsu Open University (JSOU), and Yunnan Open University (YNOU). The purpose of this study is to provide a descriptive analysis of the transition from RVTUs to OUs, and the current state and challenges of open universities in China after five years’ reform. Five topics are explored in this paper, including: the new positioning of open universities in China’s vast and differentiated higher education system; award bearing and non-award bearing program offerings; implementation of the online teaching and learning modes; the use of Open Education Resources (OER) and online mini-courses; and the development and use of a credit bank system. A summary of these topics follows a discussion of four issues of open university reform, including key performance indicators (KPIs) for open universities, cohesion and resource sharing between the national and provincial open universities, quality assurance for award bearing programs, and planning to transform China’s existing 39 provincial RTVUs into OUs. It is expected that the results of this study would contribute to knowledge about institutional differentiation in the world’s largest higher education system, and on the merits of open and distance education in the human resource development in China. This paper may also provide insight for other countries that are engaged in institutional differentiation of higher education systems punctuated by the essential role of open universities in such planning and implementation.

Exploring Equity in Higher Education Systems: Reflections from Argentina and Chile

Given the complexities of massification and institutional differentiation in higher education, it is not possible to analyze the equity of a system by focusing only on the global policies regulating access and state or private funding mechanisms. When focusing on secondary school and undergraduate dropout rates and on the programs and institutions that lower-income students can attend, striking inequalities may appear.