Researching region-building through the mobilisation of the education sector: Michael Burawoy and the extended case method

Date(s): Thursday 12th March 2015 (12:30-14:00)
Contact: To attend please contact: educationresearchstaff@nottingham.ac.uk
Description: Presented by Susana Jorge De Melo and Thomas Muhr, The University of Nottingham

Researching region-building through the mobilisation of the education sector: Michael Burawoy and the Extended Case Method.

This presentation forms part of a larger effort of developing an ethnographic methodology through which to research projects and processes of region-building and globalisation. We use Michael Burawoy’s reflexive science model (as juxtaposed with the positive science model) and extended case method, which we put in dialogue with the geographical concepts of place, space and scale. Building on Burawoy, we suggest to extend the notion of ‘the case’ to issues and spaces larger than a particular place-bound ‘site’ or ‘case’, to comprise multiple places. Through this we seek to develop a three-dimensional method of researching region-building and globalisation projects and processes across the local, national, regional and global scales. Two cases of the mobilisation of the education sector for region-building will illustrate this endeavour: Melo’s research into the role of the Council of Europe in regionalising higher education in Europe; and Muhr’s research into the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America.

School of Education

University of Nottingham
Jubilee Campus
Wollaton Road
Nottingham, NG8 1BB