The constitution of a new global regime: Higher education in the GATS/WTO framework

The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), negotiated within the World Trade Organization (WTO), has become the main instrument for the transnationalisation of higher education. It promotes trade liberalisation in services and, thereby, the consumption of distance courses and degrees in foreign countries, the development of multinational universities and international teacher and researcher mobility. This liberalization process intends to modify, eliminate and/or harmonize a large set of regulations and laws, both national and local, in order to advance the constitution of a free trade in education international regime. For this reason, GATS/WTO is considered a key element in the current global governance of education. This chapter addresses the negotiation process of GATS on Higher Education, and the rationale of the construction process of a new transnational education trade regime through a social constructivist approach. Specifically, it explores the strategies, ideas and positions of countries within the process, and how these elements affect the development and form of this new global regime. The primary data sources are interviews with GATS negotiators and the staff of the WTO.