National Policy Discourse Research Articles

Organizing the Swedish academic career 1955–2020: reforms and recurring problems in national policy discussion1

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes policy discussion regarding key developments in the national organization of the Swedish academic career during the period 1955–2020. In the 1950s, the academic career was highly regulated and state-planned with a few exclusive academic positions. In 2020, it has become essentially deregulated with universities themselves establishing employment positions. Four key developments are identified: the emergence of parallel careers, the expansion of external research funding, the dramatic increase in professors, and the deregulation of national policy on academic careers. The national policy discussions underpinning these developments are analysed with the help of a theoretical framework for explaining different types of institutional change. The paper shows that changes to the Swedish academic career were undertaken gradually over time, mainly by the layering of new rules over or alongside existing ones as a supplement. In addition, the paper shows that some problems with the academic career have been discussed repeatedly and that even where solutions have been set out, the problems seem to persist.

Post-neoliberalism? The strange case of the new English Freeports

ABSTRACT Neoliberalism has lost its hegemonic status in the global system but neoliberal ideas and practices persist. Post-Brexit UK offers a useful case study of how these operate in a post-hegemonic context. The UK government's vision of free trading ‘Global Britain' crashed against the reality of an increasingly geoeconomic world. Freeports were an initiative designed to boost trade and to develop poorer regions. This paper adapts Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis to analyse how the different Freeport discourses interact with material power as the policy develops. It divides this into three levels: national political discourse, national policy discourse and local political and policy discourse (with a case study of one Freeport). At the national level, the Brexiteers forged a discourse that combined neoliberalism, Brexit discourse and ‘levelling up’. When translated to policy this was significantly moderated due to legal commitments and geoeconomic pressures. At the local level, the policy was significantly reframed with little emphasis on trade and more on traditional local development concerns. The contradictions of the initial political discourse opened a space for other actors to reshape the policy. More broadly, this story suggests that global geoeconomic pressures may restrict the role of free trade zones in the developed world.

Towards a circular economy and just transition to net-zero in rural Scotland: Resident perspectives on policy and practice

The circular economy and just transition are key dimensions of the sustainability challenges of the 21st century. These concepts are ambiguous and meanings differ among actors, sectors and contexts. This paper examines the circular economy and a just transition to net-zero in the Scottish context, where both are prominent in national policy discourses and central to the work of Zero Waste Scotland. It is based on qualitative research, co-designed with Zero Waste Scotland, to explore how rural residents in Scotland understand the circular economy and just transition, in their everyday lives and communities. This is an under-researched area and our findings add new knowledge useful for implementing sustainability policies in a rural context. Focus groups were carried out in three rural areas, engaging with a range of residents in a deliberative setting. The findings support the need for a more collaborative, whole systems approach that moves beyond siloed thinking and which focuses on local capacity and knowledge building for transitions to more sustainable rural communities.

Integrating refugees through ‘flexible housing’ policy in The Netherlands

The Dutch government recently introduced ‘flexwonen’ (flexible housing) to accommodate refugees, with policymakers encouraging housing suppliers to rent modular houses under temporary contracts. These housing practices, nonetheless, ostensibly conflict with integration policy goals, as integration requires stability. Building on an analysis of policy discourses and interviews with central government and municipal actors, our research adopts a capability-based perspective to assess how policymakers and housing suppliers evaluate housing and integration prospects and securities. Our findings illustrate how national policy discourses emphasise opportunities offered through flexible housing, but also how the actual needs and unique circumstances of those being housed are overlooked. Consequently, local policy actors and housing providers report that they struggle with the implications of uncertain living conditions, with some refugees adapting better than others. This study underscores the importance of considering refugees’ ‘capabilities for integration’ in accommodation policies at all levels of governance.

Outer-context determinants on the implementation of school-based interventions for LGBTQ+ adolescents.

Schools are critical venues for supporting LGBTQ+ youth well-being. Implementing LGBTQ-supportive practices can decrease experiences of stigmatization, discrimination, and victimization that lead to adverse mental health outcomes like anxiety, depression, and suicidality. However, schools are also subject to a wide range of outer-context pressures that may influence their priorities and implementation of LGBTQ-supportive practices. We assessed the role of emergent outer-context determinants in the context of a 5-year cluster randomized controlled trial to study the implementation of LGBTQ-supportive evidence-informed practices (EIPs) in New Mexico high schools. Using an iterative coding approach, we analyzed qualitative data from annual interviews with school professionals involved in EIP implementation efforts. The analysis yielded three categories of outer-context determinants that created challenges and opportunities for implementation: (a) social barriers related to heterocentrism, cisgenderism, and religious conservatism; (b) local, state, and national policy and political discourse; and (c) crisis events. By exploring the implications of outer-context determinants for the uptake of LGBTQ-supportive practices, we demonstrate that these elements are dynamic-not simply reducible to barriers or facilitators-and that assessing outer-context determinants shaping implementation environments is crucial for addressing LGBTQ health equity.

Playing by the Rules? Tracking U.S. Hospitals' Responses to Federal Price Transparency Regulation.

As of January 1, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requires most U.S. hospitals to publish pricing information on their website to help consumers make decisions regarding services and to transform negotiations with health insurers. For this study, we evaluated changes in hospitals' compliance with the federal price transparency rule after the first year of enactment, during which the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services increased the penalty for noncompliance. Using a nationally representative random sample of 470 hospitals, we assessed compliance with both parts of the hospital transparency rule (publishing a machine-readable price database and a consumer shopping tool) in the first quarter of 2022 and compared its baseline level in the first quarter of 2021. Using data from the American Hospital Association and Clarivate, we next assessed how compliance varied by hospital factors (ownership, number of beds, system membership, teaching status, type of electronic health record system), market factors (hospital and insurer market concentration), and the estimated change in penalty for noncompliance. By early 2022, 46% of hospitals had posted both machine-readable and consumer-shoppable data, an increase of 24% from the prior year. Almost 9 in 10 hospitals had complied with the consumer-shoppable data requirement by early 2022. Larger hospitals and public hospitals had lower probabilities of baseline compliance with the machine-readable and consumer-shoppable requirements, respectively, although public hospitals were significantly more likely to become compliant with the consumer-shoppable requirement by 2022. Higher hospital market concentration was also associated with higher baseline compliance for both the machine-readable and consumer-shoppable requirements. Furthermore, our analyses found that hospitals with certain electronic health record systems were more likely to comply with the consumer-shoppable requirement in 2021 and became increasingly compliant with the machine-readable requirement in 2022. Finally, we found that hospitals with a larger estimated penalty were more likely to become compliant with the machine-readable requirement. Longitudinal analyses of compliance with the federal price transparency rule are valuable for monitoring changes in hospitals' behavior and assessing whether compliance changes vary systematically for specific types of hospitals and/or market structures. Our results suggest a trend toward increased hospital compliance between 2021 and 2022. Although hospitals perceive the consumer-shopping tools as being the most impactful, the value of this information depends on whether it is comprehensible and comparable across hospitals. The new price transparency rule has facilitated the creation of new data that have the potential to significantly alter the competitive landscape for hospitals and may require hospital leaders to consider how their organizational strategies change concerning their engagement with payers and patients. Finally, greater price transparency is likely to bolster national policy discussions related to price variation, affordability, and the role of regulation in healthcare markets.

‘Doff white shirts, don overalls’: Urbanophobia, Rural Enterprise and the Ideal of Masculine Citizenship in Post-Colonial Botswana

Historical studies of migration have largely ascribed the configuration of masculinities in Botswana to male labour migration. This discourse is beyond dispute. As a paradigm, however, it has obscured other histories of migration and their influence on cultural ideals of masculinity, where circular migratory patterns became central to the construction of national identity. In the first decade of independence, Botswana’s national policy and popular discourse centred around shaping a nation of farmers composed of masculine, rural citizens. Men were encouraged to go back to their lands to stem the tide of migration to urban areas, where they would purportedly become indolent and therefore wallow in poverty. This article analyses anti-urban rhetoric and valorisation of the virtues of farming as evidence of how rural enterprise was central to the construction of the ideal of masculine national identity in early post-colonial Botswana between the 1960s and 1970s. The attempt to construct national identity around manhood was a deliberate mechanism to sustain the patriarchy’s control over subordinated gendered categories, such as women, poor people and young men.

Maternal Healthcare Services Utilisation and Its Associated Risk Factors: A Pooled Study of 37 Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Objectives: The utilisation of maternal healthcare services (MHS) can play an essential role in reducing maternal deaths. Thus, this study examines the prevalence and factors associated with MHS utilisation in 37 low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods: A total of 264,123 women were obtained from the Demographic and Health Surveys of 37 LMICs. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify the factors associated with maternal healthcare services utilisation. Results: Around one-third (33.7%) of the respondents properly utilise MHS among women of childbearing age. In the pooled sample, the odds of MHS utilisation were significantly higher with the increase in wealth index, women's age, age at the first birth, and husband/partner's education. Urban residence (AOR [adjusted odds ratio] = 1.56; 95% CI [confidence interval]: 1.49-1.64), women's autonomy in healthcare decision-making (AOR = 1.19; 95% CI: 1.15-1.24) and media exposure (AOR = 1.70; 95% CI: 1.58-1.83) were found to be the strongest positive factors associated with utilisation of MHS. In contrast, larger family (AOR = 0.93; 95% CI: 0.91-0.96), and families with 7 or more children (AOR = 0.72; 95% CI: 0.68-0.77) were significantly negatively associated with MHS utilisation. Conclusion: The utilisation of MHS highly varied in LMICs and the associated factors. Expanding the wealth status, education, age at first birth, mothers' autonomy in healthcare decisions, and media exposure could be essential strategies for increasing the utilisation of MHS; however, country-specific programs should be considered in national policy discussions. There is a need to formulate policies and design maternal health services programs that target socially marginalised women.

The Future of Nuclear Power: A Philippine Perspective

A global transition toward sustainable energy systems is of capital importance to avert the adverse effects of climate change. However, at the forefront of this paradigm shift remains energy security as a key constituent. The Philippines, amid imposing high electricity rates because of the importation of coal and fossil fuels, continuously struggles with its energy consumption. As it commits to a 75% reduction and avoidance of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, the Philippines endeavors steps toward meeting its concomitant energy demand while investing in more sustainable energy sources. Among the most viable options, nuclear energy is integral in providing a zero-emission clean energy source to address the demand while attaining the country’s commitment to GHG reduction. Thus, national policy discussions on the introduction of nuclear power in the energy mix are of principal interest as its inclusion is projected to present colossal potential and prospects for the government and its people in terms of employment, energy security, and a sustainable environment. In lieu, this paper pivots on the future of nuclear power in the Philippine context through a comprehensive review of the status of its energy sector, the historical context and status of its nuclear power, public acceptance, capacity building, and economic feasibility.

Small cities and towns in global city-centred regionalism: Observations from Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China

This paper examines the historical and recent efforts towards constructing an integrated Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei global city-region, arguably the most politically privileged urban agglomeration in China. It considers how a progressive national policy discourse concerning city-regional integrated development is substantially focused on the central city (Beijing), thereby privileging the competitiveness and interests of the larger global city at the expense of those of the surrounding smaller cities and towns. The study argues that future research and policy informing city-regionalism should pay closer attention to the uneven power dynamics and distributional politics operating within, and often in tension with, the geopolitical orchestration of global city-regions by nation states.

People and politics: Urban climate resilience in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The rapid growth Cambodia has experienced over the past two decades has resulted in a dramatic transformation of its built environment, in particular, its largest city, Phnom Penh. The shape this urban development has taken echoes that of many developing countries whose urban landscape features gleaming skyscrapers, apartment buildings, and edge-city projects spread across a rapidly expanding urban area. Such a pattern of urbanization is occurring in Phnom Penh while the city faces increased flooding, lack of adequate urban infrastructure, and vulnerability to impacts of climate change. At the same time, embedded within national policy discourses of climate change and social/economic planning, and backed by international donors, are calls for strengthening or developing resilience. Yet, in the city there are signs of land dispossession, marginalization, inequality, and exacerbated poverty. In parallel to high-level discourses of urban resilience, on the ground there have been “everyday forms of resilience” that show how people enact and build resilience through collective action and advocacy for the rights of the urban poor. In reconciling this dichotomy, we argue that the continued reproduction of a technocratic-focused discourse on resilience in Cambodia by national and international actors overshadows the everyday contestations, strategies and resilience-making practices of people in urban areas. Through three examples, we showcase the varying ways in which these contestations and strategies occur in, and despite, an environment of suppression, and how they are challenging the status quo. In doing so, we shed light not only on the politics of resilience but, more importantly, the implications of the political agendas that ultimately contribute to exacerbating vulnerabilities of urban residents, even as calls continue for increased urban “resilience.”

Why Go to University? Exploring the Purpose of Attaining Higher Education among First-Born Students from B40 and M40 Malay Families

In recent years, conversations surrounding the purposes of higher education have been influenced by national policy discourse that is framed in relation to economic contexts. The preoccupation with labour market interests and employability issues continue to dominate the discussion on the purpose of higher education. This presents specific discursive constructions of what it means to attain higher education qualifications, and more broadly, in orienting the provision of higher education itself. While such views generate mixed response among different institutional stakeholders, the perspectives of young people who wish to pursue a university education are rarely considered in the discourse. This article aims to highlight the reasons behind young people’s aspirations to further their studies at the university level. Data were drawn from a series of semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of fourteen first-born matriculation and foundation students from B40 and M40 Malay families. The findings demonstrate that intrinsic reasons were expressed alongside extrinsic, economic rationales as the students explained their motives to pursue higher education. While differences in the articulation of these reasons may not be sharply evident when comparison of socio-economic and generational status of the students is made, the notion of social mobility is relatively absent in the students’ accounts. Altogether, these findings illuminate the multiple views on the personal motives of attaining higher education, both corresponding to and in contrast with the instrumentalist view of higher education replete in contemporary state-projected discourse.

The use of mobile phone applications to enhance personal safety from interpersonal violence – an overview of available smartphone applications in the United Kingdom

BackgroundInterpersonal violence has devastating implications for individuals, families, and communities across the globe, placing a significant burden on health, justice, and social welfare systems. Smartphone technology may provide a platform for violence prevention interventions. However, evidence on the availability and user experience of smartphone applications aimed to prevent violence is underexplored.MethodsSystematic searches of available smartphone applications marketed for personal safety and violence prevention on the Apple Store (IOS) and Google Play (Android) in the United Kingdom were run in May 2021. Relevant applications were downloaded, with data on user reviews and ratings extracted. Included applications were categorised according to their features and functions. Online user reviews were rated according to their sentiment (positive, negative, neutral) and thematically analysed.ResultsOf 503 applications, 86 apps met review criteria. Only 52 (61%) apps offered full functionality free of charge. Over half (52%) of apps were targeted towards the general population, with 16% targeting women and 13% targeting families. App functionality varied with 22% providing an alarm, 71% sending alerts to pre-designated contacts, 34% providing evidence capture and 26% offering educational information. Overall, 71% of applications had a user rating of four or above. For 61 apps a total of 3,820 user reviews were extracted. Over half (52.4%) of reviews were rated as having a positive sentiment, with 8.8% neutral and 38.8% negative. Key themes across user reviews included positive consequences of app use, technical and usage issues including app reliability, dissatisfaction with the financial cost of some app features and personal data and ethical issues.ConclusionsReviews suggest that users find apps for personal safety and violence prevention useful. However, individuals also report them being unreliable, not working as described and having features that others may exploit. Findings have implications for the development of policy on apps to improve personal safety, especially given recent national policy (e.g. UK) discussions about their utility. Without the regulation or accreditation of such technology for quality assurance and reliability, emphasis needs to be placed on ensuring user safety; otherwise vulnerable individuals may continue to place reliance on untested technology in potentially dangerous circumstances.

A Cyber-Diplomacy and Cybersecurity Awareness Framework (CDAF) for Developing Countries

Cybersecurity is high on the agenda of national and international security policy discussions – mostly lead by diplomats. The practise of diplomacy has evolved since the Internet has become the backbone of society as we know it. Technological evolution has resulted in a significantly bigger and more accessible cyberspace, but the ability of governments and institutions to respond to and function in an expanding cyberspace seems to be lagging behind. The practice of diplomacy has similarly changed fundamentally and created a cyber-diplomacy environment where there is an increased utilization of inter alia social media platforms to achieve foreign policy goals. There is not enough attention given to practical processes to guide the new breed of diplomats in the evolving world of cyber-diplomacy and there is a need to improve the cybersecurity awareness of diplomats in all countries, but this article will focus primarily on developing countries. To mitigate potential cyber threats to diplomacy, diplomats need to be subjected to cyber-diplomacy orientation as well as functional cyber awareness training. Preliminary research conducted suggests that there is a gap between the existing and required cyber-diplomacy and cybersecurity awareness levels of diplomats from developing countries. The purpose of the article is to present a cyber-diplomacy and cybersecurity awareness framework (CDAF) that can be used by developing countries to equip their diplomats to play a more constructive role within the international cyber-diplomacy domain. The CDAF comprises of two distinct components, namely cyber-diplomacy and cybersecurity awareness, but this article will focus primarily on the cyber-diplomacy capacity building aspect of the CDAF. The CDAF was developed by following a design science research approach where a real-world problem was identified followed by an in-depth literature review to identify objectives and possible solutions to the problem. The subsequent outcomes were used to design and development of the CDAF. The article concludes with a critical evaluation of the proposed framework as well as how it can be incorporated into the developing cybersecurity knowledge modules of the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE).

The Persistence of Racial Constructs in Spain: Bringing Race and Colorblindness into the Debate on Interculturalism

In this article, I argue that persisting racial constructs in Spain affect conceptions of national belonging and continue to shape and permeate contemporary discriminations. I begin by describing several recent political events that demonstrate the urgent need for a discussion about “race” and racialization in the country. Second, some conceptual foundations are provided concerning constructs of race and the corollary processes of racism and racialization. Third, I present data from various public surveys and also from ethnographic research conducted in Spain on mixedness and multiraciality to demonstrate that social constructs of race remain a significant boundary driving stigmatization and discrimination in Spain, where skin color and other perceived physical traits continue to be important markers for social interaction, perceived social belonging, and differential social treatment. Finally, I bring race into the debate on managing diversity, arguing that a post-racial approach—that is, race-neutral discourse and the adoption of colorblind public policies, both of which are characteristic of the interculturalist perspectives currently preferred by Spain as well as elsewhere in Europe—fails to confront the enduring effects of colonialism and the ongoing realities of structural racism. I conclude by emphasizing the importance of bringing race into national and regional policy discussions on how best to approach issues of diversity, equality, anti-discrimination, and social cohesion.

Analysis of the Influence of Western Philosophy on the Development of Chinese Environmental Philosophy Theory and Its Future Direction.

Western environmental philosophy was born out of the environmental movement that emerged in the second half of the 20th century, and it is fundamentally practical in orientation. However, over the past 50 years, the study of environmental philosophy has become increasingly abstract and theoretical and seems to have drifted away from the practice of environmental protection. At the beginning of the 21st century, Western environmental philosophy began to take a policy turn, with an increasing number of philosophers actively participating in national and international environmental policy discussions. This turn is the latest development in environmental pragmatism. However, the philosophy embodied in this turn is still weak and lacks sufficiently strong theoretical roots. An environmental philosophy that truly achieves a policy turn, i.e., one that can exert a truly significant influence in environmental policy making, must be based on a unified and robust theoretical paradigm. This paper takes the goals and tasks of environmental philosophy research as an entry point, analyzes the deviation of the development of environmental philosophy in China to the problem of the intrinsic value argument, and explores the new direction of environmental philosophy research by focusing on the central argument of environmental pragmatism. In order to deeply explore this issue, this paper takes the Marxist concept of development as the theoretical guide and mainly adopts the methods of inductive research, comparative research, and theory to practice. This paper summarizes the foundation of contemporary environmental philosophy into four basic questions of center, value, ethics, and survival and seeks answers to these questions in philosophical thought. To construct the basic framework of modern Chinese environmental philosophy, through the comparative study of environmental ethics in different periods, this paper explores the relationship between environmental ethics in the perspective of Marxist concept of development, so as to further clarify the development direction of environmental ethics in China in the future.

Exploring the Role of Blue Economy in Sustainable Development: A Perspective from Pakistan

Purpose: Being covered by oceans around 71%, Planet Earth is a blue planet. More than three billion people depend on this natural capital for the sustenance of their lives and livelihoods. Given its twin objectives of securing growth and sustainability, the blue economy (BE) has become a pivotal policy discourse. Pakistan is a bonafide maritime nation. Despite making reasonable efforts, the country is not making headway towards sustainability. Keeping in view the country’s BE potential, the extant study aims to explore the role of BE in the sustainable development (SD) of Pakistan. Method: Drawing upon Triple Bottom Line (3BL) Theory, this qualitative study utilizes an interpretive paradigm to illustrate the insights of the BE experts (n=15) selected through purposive sampling. The researchers performed a thematic analysis (TA) of the primary data and discussed the identified themes. Findings: The study confirms that the BE and SD are compounding, and Pakistan can’t afford their mutual exclusivity. While calling attention to several socio-economic, political, institutional, legal, security, and environmental challenges, the study informs that Pakistan’s geostrategic location and BE potential enables it to turn the tide towards SD. To this effect, the country needs to put in titanic efforts across all spheres to bear out its national and international commitments towards BE and SD. Contribution: The present study contributes to the budding literature on BE and SD. With an improved understanding of the nexus between BE and SD, the study stimulates advanced research and backs the national and international SD and BE policy discourse. The study also notifies the future research agenda with limitations and policy implications.

Disability stories: personal perspectives of people with disabilities on navigating the U.S. health system

Americans with disabilities and chronic illness or injury tend to be in poorer health, use more health services, and pay more for healthcare than those without disabilities. Consequently, their lives can be profoundly affected by federal and state health policies. The concerns of this population do not figure prominently in national health policy discourse and related public health and health services research efforts. This study sought to give voice to the lived experiences of people with disabilities as they navigate a fragmented U.S. healthcare system. We interviewed 30 adults who self-identified as having a disability and spoke or otherwise communicated in the English language. Directed content analysis was used to examine words and phrases in professionally transcribed documents by experienced qualitative researchers. We report and discuss four themes from the perspective of the participant, presented in thematic statements, related to vocation, finances, stressors, and advocacy. Points of Interest It is critical to include people with disabilities and chronic illness or injury in national conversations about health policy because their lives can be greatly affected by it. The current definition of disability and models to explain thinking about disability are widely contested and debated by people with disabilities. Americans with disabilities desire to have a fulfilling work life, but find it hard to maintain full time regular employment due to a lack of insurance. American people with disabilities live with constant financial pressure and may not enjoy the retirement that others imagine for themselves. Navigating various insurance programs results in a great deal of stress for Americans with disabilities.

Association of maternal history of neonatal death with subsequent neonatal death across 56 low- and middle-income countries

Early identification of high-risk pregnancies can reduce global neonatal mortality rate. Using the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys from 56 low- and middle-income countries, we examined the proportion of mothers with history of neonatal deaths. Logistic regression models were used to assess the association between maternal history of neonatal death and subsequent neonatal mortality. The adjusted models controlled for socioeconomic, child, and pregnancy-related factors. Country-specific analyses were performed to assess heterogeneity in this association across countries. Among the 437,049 live births included in the study, 6910 resulted in neonatal deaths. In general, 22.4% (1549) occurred to mothers with previous history of neonatal death; at the country-level, this proportion ranged from 1.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.0, 2.6) in Dominican Republic to 38.1% (95% CI 26.0, 50.1) in Niger. Maternal history of neonatal death was significantly associated with subsequent neonatal death in both the pooled and the subgroup analyses. In the fully adjusted model, history of neonatal death was associated with 2.1 (95% CI 1.9, 2.4) times higher odds of subsequent neonatal mortality in the pooled analysis. We observed large variation in the associations across countries ranging from fully adjusted odds ratio (FAOR) of 0.4 (95% CI 0.0, 4.0) in Dominican Republic to 16.1 (95% CI 3.6, 42.0) in South Africa. Our study suggests that maternal history of neonatal death could be an effective early identifier of high-risk pregnancies in resource-poor countries. However, country-specific contexts must be considered in national policy discussions.

Child migrants’ right to education in a London academy: tensions between policy, language provision, and international standards

As a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, enshrined in national legislation, all children in the UK have the right to education. In the everyday life of schools, this human rights framework must often be balanced with other policies, such as immigration and securitisation ones. Teachers are expected to police membership boundaries and keep their students under surveillance, while delivering results in compliance with audits and league tables. Based on a thematic analysis of an ethnographic study of an English as an Additional Language (EAL) classroom in a diverse London academy, this paper argues that recently-arrived migrant students and their teachers often find themselves at the intersection of contradictory policy agendas that rarely consider the needs of the children themselves. Analysing how national and international policy discourses play out in the classroom, I argue that there is a mismatch between different policy areas, and between policy expectations and everyday practice.