Tracing the Evolution and Discourse of Educational Networks: A Study of UNESCO’s Influence in Chile (1990-2025)

• In Event: Education Governance Future(s) in a Permacrisis World – Policyscapes, Timescapes, and Actorscapes (Part 2): Translation into National Contexts

Proposal

In recent decades, numerous studies have examined the influence of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in shaping the global educational landscape (Elfert & Ydesen 2023). Along these lines, research inspired by Social Network Analysis (SNA) or the so-called “network turn” (Beckfield 2008) has highlighted UNESCO's ability to structure various networks oriented to the fulfillment of the international educational agenda (Saura 2020). However, knowledge regarding UNESCO’s role as a promoter of networks within specific countries—particularly in Global South contexts—remains limited (Alarcón 2015). This gap is deepened by the general scarcity of data and analysis on non-state actors in the Global South, a field of study dominated by the analysis of “North/West” actors (Erfurth & Ridge 2021).

Considering this background and with the goal of contributing to emerging interest in understanding the national/global relations (Mochizuki & Vickers 2024), this article analyzes the collaborative and discursive networks promoted by the UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO) within the Chilean school system. Specifically, it examines the organizational dynamics of OREALC/UNESCO’s partners and the discursive transformations these collaborations have fostered in the Chilean education sector between 1990 and 2025. The Chilean case is particularly relevant for two reasons. First, because since the return to democracy in 1989, the education system has inherited and maintained high levels of both endogenous and exogenous privatization, with few variations in its organizational model (Villalobos et al. 2025). Second, because UNESCO has historically regarded the Chilean education system as a central hub for the production and dissemination of educational knowledge in the Latin American region (Cutroni 2018)
Methodologically, this paper employs social-semantic network analysis (SNN) to integrate knowledge of OREALC/UNESCO networks (Menashy & Verger 2019) and the discourses circulating in them in post-dictatorship Chile (Basov & Roth 2025). The SNN is an emerging and novel methodological approach that integrates social network analysis with semantic discourse analysis. Its central premise is that networks not only position actors, but also shape the production and circulation of discourses, which co-evolve with their social environments.

Findings highlight indicate that OREALC/UNESCO has maintained connections with an extensive network of collaborators (n=350), particularly in the context of seminars and commissioned reports. However, these networks are characterized by low density and the sporadic nature of established partnerships. In contrast, certain actors within the network exhibit high levels of centrality and homophily, especially those from the local academic sphere (e.g., Center for Educational Research and Development, Catholic University of Chile, among others). These actors provide OREALC/UNESCO with cognitive resources that reinforce the organization’s scientific authority in areas such as policy planning, information systems, and teacher training. In addition, significant changes have been observed in the centrality of some actors from the global education field, with a marked decrease in the participation of the World Bank and an increase in collaborations with the OECD and UNICEF in the context of the SDG 4 agenda.

Authors

• Jose Miguel Fuentes-Salazar, Universidad de Chile

• Cristobal Villalobos, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile