University Autonomy, Agenda Setting and the Construction of Agency: The Case of the European University Association in the European Higher Education Area

Source: European Educational Research Journal, Volume 13 Number 6, 2014, p. 699-714. 

This paper analyses the ways in which a policy actor constructs its agency through the production of knowledge.
Taking the example of the concept of ‘autonomy’ as constructed in the discourse of the European University Association (EUA), the article draws on the theory of discursive framing and agenda setting, to show how the practice of knowledge production can shape the European higher education policy.

It offers a contribution to the debate aiming to develop a more critical perspective on the development of the European Higher Education Area, which sees the process as constituted through the activities of, and the negotiations between, different political actors.