Democracy, Knowledge Economy, and Global Excellence: Mapping the Controlling Narratives of Latvian Research Reforms, 1990–2020

Abstract

In this chapter, I map the controlling narratives that have organised research governance reforms in Latvia since the 1990s. Drawing on interviews with policy makers, researchers, and university administrators, as well as on document analysis, three main controlling narratives are identified: (1) democratisation and Westernisation, (2) knowledge economy and innovation, and (3) internationalisation and global excellence. The chapter reveals how the Latvian research system reform was initially framed as part of the democratisation and Westernisation process that Latvia embarked upon after regaining independence from the Soviet Union. However, with the proliferation of a neoliberal discourse of knowledge economy, integration of research and higher education has increasingly been framed as a means to increase the global competitiveness of Latvian universities.