Introduction: Decentralisation and Privatisation in Education: The Role of the State

This chapter critically examines the overall interplay between privatisation, decentralisation and the role of the State. It draws upon recent studies in the areas of decentralisation, privatisation and the role of the State in education in the global economy and culture. The chapter explores conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches applicable in the research of the State, privatisation, and decentralisation in education globally. It demonstrates the neo-liberal ideological imperatives of privatisation and decentralisation, and illustrates the way the relationship between the State and education policy affects current models and trends in privatisation and decentralisation of schooling. The dominant discourses and debates pertaining to the newly constructed and re-invented Grand Narratives of privatisation and decentralisation in education are critiqued. The chapter shows the way they may well be operating as an educational model of a new global ‘master narrative’ – playing a hegemonic role within the framework of economic, political and cultural hybrids of globalisation and localisation.