textThis study is an ethnographic multiple case study analysis of restructuring in
Thailand’s public higher education system. The analysis uses a global political economy
approach to determine the extent to which globalization plays a part in the restructuring
process. The literature covering the role of globalization in the restructuring of national
higher education systems contains few site-based studies of colleges and universities in
non-western countries. Using a multiple site case study design, the research examined
the Thai Ministry of University Affairs and three universities in Thailand that had
undergone restructuring or were in the process of restructuring.
The study found that although globalization did play a role in the restructuring of
the three institutions, it was not the irresistible force that many claim it to be. The study
confirms the theory that globalization is vulnerable to cultural and social factors. This
does not mean that globalization is not a force to be reckoned with. Globalization
continues to play an important role in the restructuring of Thailand’s higher education
system albeit at a pace and in a direction that is culturally determined. The aspect of
market/economic ideology is still present, but in the context of how the market/economy
operates within the local culture. It is perhaps erroneous, then, to suggest that
globalization is the evangelistic outreach of western ideology around the world. It is
possible to theorize that globalization is concerned with understanding how a given
society/culture uses and manipulates indigenous market/economy strategies in order to
accomplish political and economic goals in that society.Educational Administratio
