Cosmopolitanism or cosmopolitics? The roles of university elites in the internationalisation of Indonesian higher education

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the roles of university elites in enhancing internationalisation agenda in Indonesian higher education. This is done by exploring the relationship between internationalisation and cosmopolitanism. Drawing from two stages of field studies of the internationalisation of Indonesian universities, interviews with key correspondents in the sector, and an analysis of related documents, I argue that there is a tension between the way the university elites see themselves as the agents of cosmopolitan culture and the way they are positioned as intermediaries of global interest and agenda. Cosmopolitan culture that appears to be symbolic, universal, and democratic as represented by the university elites belies the instrumental purpose of internationalisation that yokes higher education into the global marketplace. A shift from mere cosmopolitanism to cosmopolitics would equip the university elites with the analytical tools of global geopolitics regarding the internationalisation of higher education.