The affective economy of internationalisation: migrant academics in and out of Japanese higher education

ABSTRACT

Internationalisation is a polyvalent policy discourse, saturated in conceptual and ideological ambiguity. It is an assemblage of commodification, exploitation and opportunity and is a container for multiple aspirations, anxieties, and affordances. It combines modernisation, detraditionalisation, and expansiveness, with knowledge capitalism, linguistic imperialism, and market dominance. There are notable policy shadows and silences, especially relating to the emerging subjectivities, motivations and narratives of internationalised subjects, and experiences that expose the gendered, racialised, epistemic and affective inequalities constituting academic mobility. This paper explores the affective economy and policyscape of internationalisation drawing upon interview data gathered in one private and one national university in Japan with 13 migrant academics. What emerged from our study is that internationalisation policies, processes and practices generate multiple affective engagements. Internationalising oneself can be repressive and generative, with migrant academics finding themselves both vulnerable and animated by their diverse and frequently embodied experiences.

KEYWORDS:

• Migrant academics
• Japanese higher education
• affective economy
• internationalisation
• mobility

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the thirteen participants, to the funders (International Research Partnerships and Research Fund, University of Sussex), and to the Research Institute of Japan, UK and Europe (RIJUE) for arranging the interviews.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Louise Morley http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6316-756X

Notes

1. Dejima was a small artificial island built in the bay of Nagasaki in 1634 by local merchants, notable for being the single place of direct trade and exchange between Japan and the outside world.

2. The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme or JET Programme is a Japanese government initiative that brings college graduates – mostly native speakers of English – to Japan as Assistant Language Teachers.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the International Research Partnerships and Research Fund, University of Sussex.