// Latest Posts

Can the Chinese Workers Eat Apple?

On 24 September, the iPhone 5 was launched in the first nine countries/areas, America, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong. It was then launched in 22 more countries in the week beginning 1 October. The first weekend’s sales were very impressive, reaching 5 million. This number already broke Apple’s previous record …

Do we need new development goals?

In 2015 the current global run out. 2012 has seen the process of replacing them start in earnest with the Rio+20 summit and its proposal for sustainable development goals, and the appointment of the UN High Level Panel on post-2015.  More recently, there has been a wave of sectoral and overall consultations that are ongoing …

Is globalisation a threat to democratic legitimacy?

One of the biggest challenges globalisation brings to Western democracy is the threat it poses to the future legitimacy of Western governments, as a result of its role in undermining the relevance of the processes and institutions of electoral politics. Evidence from the Hansard Society’s Audit of Political Engagement series of polls shows that this …

What can we learn from the past 50 years of education-for-development in Africa for the Beyond 2015 debate?

In all the talk about international development targets beyond 2015, I am particularly concerned about two things.  First, that the voices of educationalists regarding the nature of education and its role in development are being reduced to simple soundbites based on overstatement of certain effects of education. Second, that the discussion on what works is …

Will the rest of the world bail out the Eurozone?

The euro zone crisis rumbles on. Just when European policymakers reach a semblance of consensus, further twists emerge, rendering each action one step behind the rapidly unfolding events. At a recent meeting of the Integrating Global Society Priority Group at the University of Nottingham, several academics warned that European policymakers are unlikely to resolve the …

The UNESCO World Vocational Education and Training (VET) Report and the purposes of VET

This post from Professor Simon McGrath first appeared on the Network for Policy Research, Review and Advice on Education and Training (NORRAG) blog about international education, training and development aid and policy. NORRAG is a focus and a forum for the analysis of international cooperation in the education and training field. Simon is one of …

Confronting the Euro crisis

The Integrating Global Society Priority Group and the China Policy Institute held a roundtable to brainstorm the Euro crisis and its implications in May. We examined the issues involved from both European and global perspectives, and reached the following conclusions: 1.  A Greek exit from the Euro is now a real possibility and such an …

Why should China’s leadership succession matter to the rest of the world?

The formal process for the once-in-a-decade leadership succession in China is scheduled for the autumn. But the process to work out the succession is well underway. It came to the fore when the charismatic Party Secretary for Chongqing got into trouble when his former police chief sought asylum in the US consulate in February. He …

Don’t Mention the VIPs on Campus: Protest, Censorship, and Hierarchies of Oppression

I must admit to being particularly unimpressed by the thrust of the recent student piece on the Impact (‘The University of Nottingham’s Official Student Magazine’) website, entitled Don’t Mention the Tuition Fees: British Students Silenced at Malaysia Campus Talk. The article bemoans the fact that UK students at UNMC were not allowed to attend the …

Resisting internationalisation: thinking about some contradictions in transnational education

Friday 16 March. To the Malaysia Ministry of Education/University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus event ‘Transnational Education: Opportunities and Challenges in the 21st Century – Malaysian and European Perspectives’, at the Kuala Lumpur Conference Centre. After the necessary pleasantries and platitudes from the diplomats and politicians we were treated to some searching, provocative reflections on the …