The geopolitics of academic publishing: the case of Kazakhstan

Eva Hartmann and Aikerim Bektemirova

No 48dgy_v1, SocArXiv from Center for Open Science

Abstract: Abstract Publications in Scopus- and Web of Science-indexed journals have become the global benchmark of academic excellence. This article examines how Kazakhstan has placed this new ‘gold standard’ at the centre of its academic publishing policy, which has become a key part of its university reform agenda since 2010. Using a Gramscian lens on power and knowledge, we show how the government employs this policy to position itself between the West and Russia in a shifting geopolitical context. The adoption of this benchmark not only changes how Kazakhstan's academic community relates to the broader academic world. It also significantly reshapes the hierarchy within Kazakhstan’s academic community. We argue that this has profound implications for the societal role of universities and academic research and their ability to address local challenges. Our study makes both empirical and theoretical contributions to the growing literature on the geopolitics of knowledge, highlighting the interplay among local, national, and global dynamics.

Date: 2026-10-12
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:socarx:48dgy_v1

DOI: 10.31235/osf.io/48dgy_v1

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