Studies in higher education

Each narrative on its own constitutes a stereotype that conceals as much as it reveals. Socialscience and in particular, the field of global studies, can do better. The way forward in explainingglobal science is to acknowledge the (partial) autonomy of the global system and within that, itshorizontal and vertical dimensions –to combine network theory with a theorisation of the hegemo-nic power that stratifies and excludes –while keeping open the potentials of multipolarity. Sciencehas only a partial autonomy because it is impacted by the arbitrary interventions of governments,especially through funding, and by market forces; though up to this point, neither politics nor econ-omics have permanently suborned the expanding collegial conversations. Like all information,science spreads like quicksilver in a connected world and its structures are porous to newcomers.However, its recognised global contents are gripped by a firm Anglo-American hegemony, andthe fact must be faced that it is the professional science communities themselves that, togetherwith the commercial bibliometric companies, exercise the homogenising role, locking out morediverse knowledge, agendas and agents. If linguistic plurality and reciprocal translation were normal-ised, and the bibliometric repositories began to open up to a fuller range of disciplines and forms ofoutput, much would change in global science.

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