Towards a just and inclusive global higher education area? The UNESCO global convention within mobility and internationalisation debates

Set against the backdrop of the complex dynamics of international student mobility and migration resulting from neoliberal globalisation and other global challenges such as climate change and the rise of neo-nationalism, this paper examines UNESCO's attempts to frame the growing imperative for inclusive mobility in normative and regulatory terms. Particular attention is given to the Global Convention Concerning the Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications, adopted in 2019 and presented as the first legally binding instrument aimed at regulating higher education globally. The Global Convention expands the remit of existing UNESCO-supported regional recognition conventions to establish a framework for the fair, transparent and non-discriminatory recognition of higher education credentials. Through a network ethnography of key actors involved in the production and implementation of the Global Convention, we examine the reasons, timing and process of the Convention, as well as how power dynamics influence the design and evolution of the UNESCO agenda. Our study reveals how regional, national, and organisational logics contribute to the creation of a fluid yet codified and ritualised discursive space of dialogue and influence within UNESCO that both challenges and promotes UNESCO’s credentials as a regulatory alternative to market-driven ideologies that dominate the global governance of higher education.