International Organizations, Interdependency and the Rise of Global Metrology

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

The focus of the proposed panel is to present empirical research on the interplay of a diversity of actors for the production of global education measurement agendas. Empirically, given the rapid rise of cross-organisational collaborations and new coalitions, this is an opportune moment to examine a major shift in the production of quantification through the collaboration of different actors and institutions, and particularly international organizations (IOs). The encoding of data processes and organisational cultures that these collaborations require in order for data to be shared and co-developed, allows an in-depth debate on the politics of the production of education metrics. The panel will examine these developments historically as well as in their contemporary manifestations, so as to consider evolution and change in education governance globally.
In fact, statistical collaboration has always been central to the operation of many research organisations, as they have traditionally needed to work closely with governments, NGOs and the private sector. Yet, ‘donor duplication’ (Ringel-Bickelmeier & Ringel, 2012), resource-pooling and data overload have become some of the most common reasons that statistical agencies and actors are increasingly compelled to work together. Indeed, most major global strategies, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or major education testing regimes, such as the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), are collaborative endeavours, dependent on the pooling of re-sources and expertise. How do these actors learn from one another? In the making of numbers, how do they negotiate financial resources and knowledge controversies? How do they actively produce collective sense-making (Weick, 1995) and issue-framing strategies (Baumgartner & Jones, 1993)? How much do we know about their expert net-works? Ultimately, if rating and ranking practices are a ‘zero-sum’ game for the assessed, how much do we know about the rules of the game for the assessors?
The concept of organisational interplay is not entirely new. Starting with Weber’s ‘ideal-type’ of organisations as highly politicised, seeking not only efficiency but also legitimacy, organisational sociology has given attention to the ways organisations may become interdependent in their quest for legitimation and survival. The papers presented in this panel will be informed by the rich fields of organisational sociology, science and technology studies, international relations and anthropology and will employ a variety of concepts and theories, from Bourdieu’s concept of field to instrument constituency theory, which highlights the role of a group of policy actors who collaborate in actively promoting a particular policy tool, often bringing about policy change (Béland & Howlett, 2016; Simons & Voß, 2018).
Although research on global monitoring tools is abundant, there is less analysis in education research of those venues, actors, and instances when metrics for education governance are co-produced. Thus, the proposed panel will present a set of papers that will ad-dress some of the following questions:
a. What types of historical interdependencies can we observe, how have they changed and how have they played out in the field of education and development?
b. How can the interconnectedness of IOs and other actors in the production of quantification deepen our knowledge of the processes of making numbers for transnational education governance?
c. How do metrics reconfigure powerful actors, significant venues, competences and expertise?
d. How do new collaborations and interdependencies shape the field of education governance?
e. How can we theorize on the shifts of global governance of education, the interdependence of IOs and the rise of a global metrological field?

The panel will be composed of four presentations, each of which will not exceed 15 minutes, followed by a discussant, who will speak for 5-10 minutes, which will leave 15-20 minutes discussion with the audience. The first speaker will relate the rise of global metrology to the field of educational planning in the 1960s, when the U.S. government, philanthropic foundations, universities and international organisations worked closely together to promote education and development as a major factor of economic growth and U.S.-Western hegemony in the context of the Cold War. The second speaker will focus on the relations of two international organisations that have played major roles in the rise of global metrology, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The third paper addresses the role of the OECD in the construction and diffusion of School Autonomy with Accountability (SAWA) as a global policy model, which entailed a strategic use of the OECD’s education metrics. Among other aspects, the paper highlights how the OECD generates policy solutions through cultivating interdependent relations both internally, as well as externally with national OECD members. The last speaker will examine the contemporary interdependence of IOs in developing quantification projects, with a focus on the development of SDG4.

Sub Unit

• Globalization & Education SIG

Individual Presentations

• In the shadow of the Cold War: The origins of metrology in educational planning - Maren Elfert, King's College London

• The turbulence of statistics in education – A historical view of UNESCO-OECD relations, 1960-2000 - Christian Ydesen, Aalborg University

• The role of the OECD in the construction of school autonomy with accountability as a global policy model - Clara Fontdevila, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Antoni Verger, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Sotiria Grek, University of Edinburgh

• Prophets, saviours and saints: Symbolic governance and the rise of a transnational metrological field - Sotiria Grek, University of Edinburgh