Imaginaries of "Europe" in the Governmentality of PhD Education

Abstract

This article examines the recent European governing of PhD education by describing and destabilizing how Europe, as a social construct, is inscribed in the governing in multiple ways. Conceptually, it aligns with post-Foucauldian research interests in imaginaries of societies, subjectivities, and politics of knowledge. Based on European policies on higher education and research between 2003 and 2013, the analyses show how imaginaries of "Europe," by sovereign and self-governing powers, regulate the production and outcomes of PhD education. Specific territories and European virtues are produced and monitored here, positioning the European PhD student as researcher, and promoting a differentiated knowledge production and PhD program structure.