Private Encroachment Through Crisis-Making: The Privatization of Education for Refugees

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Privatization in Education in Comparative Context

Abstract

How has education for refugees been shaped by broader dynamics of educational privatization? Through a content analysis of key policy documents produced and used in this field, this paper argues that the invoking of the ‘refugee crisis’ has been crucial in enabling privatization of this sector. The urgency of crisis helps to naturalize private actors’ participation in refugees’ education as equal partners to host governments, multilateral agencies, and civil society. In particular, privatization is advancing on two fronts: the creation of a new ‘market’ for private actors, and the infusion of market and business principles such as ‘innovation’ into all aspects of education. However, these policies cannot tackle the long-term transformations needed to bring about social justice for refugees.

Author

• Hang Minh Le, University of Maryland - College Park