Global pressures, local reactions: higher education and neo‐liberal economic policies

As a summary piece, this essay describes more fully the wider globalizing context in which both students and institutions of higher education are now located. It explores three transitions that signal this new configuration: the creation of new information and media technologies; the transformation of time and space; and the expansion of the culture of consumption and the consumption of culture. The essay then discusses the four ethnographic articles in light of these new social realities.