Introduction: From Actors to Reforms in European Higher Education

Abstract

In the last three decades, European higher education has experienced more reforms than in any other such (short) period in history. These reforms were accompanied and to a large extent prompted by an unprecedented degree of intergovernmental cooperation in higher education. This introductory chapter to the volume “From Actors to Reforms in European Higher Education: A Festschrift for Pavel Zgaga” presents the conceptual framework drawing on the proposition that ‘new policies create a new politics’. The chapter reviews the major reform processes in European higher education over the last 30 years and discusses some implications on the political opportunities of actors, especially students and academics. Furthermore, the chapter discusses the new wave of higher education reforms introduced by the European Strategy for Universities published by the European Commission in 2022 and raises some questions on impact of these reforms on the politics of European higher education. Finally, the chapter summarizes the contributions in this volume. Inspired by and in conversation with Pavel Zgaga’s scholarship, teaching and service, contributions in this volume explore the questions of actors and reforms in European higher education and their connections to higher education reforms beyond Europe. The contributors have a highly diverse background and include both early-career and well-established scholars and practitioners, and they come from different European regions, including Slovenia and its neighbourhoods, and beyond Europe.