Calls to decolonize global higher education are growing. In East and Southeast Asia, increasing regional cooperation reflects a decolonial shift, challenging Western dominance in global higher education. However, regional cooperation is often regarded as secondary to partnerships with Western institutions, raising concerns that actors in the region may inadvertently perpetuate Western hegemony in global higher education.

Discussions on the persistent Western dominance in global higher education have been increasing. Western dominance is often linked to coloniality—a concept referring to the legitimization of Western ways of being and knowing through enduring colonial structures that transcend historical periods and persist into the present. Coloniality marginalizes non-Western traditions, leading to epistemic injustices and loss of cultural and epistemic diversity. In global higher education, coloniality is manifested in the dominance of English in research publications. In East and Southeast Asia, coloniality also manifests in the internationalization of curricula, which often means importing Western standards and norms into local curricula. Research suggests that the increasing regional cooperation among universities in East and Southeast Asia offers a unique opportunity to decolonize global higher education. This collaboration recognizes and challenges Western dominance, emphasizes the value of Asian knowledge systems, and thus offers an opportunity to enhance epistemic diversity in the global knowledge system. However, discussions on regional cooperation remain entangled in enduring coloniality, as the perception that Western partners are superior to regional ones persists, and universities tend to believe that collaboration with Western universities is equal to global engagement.

Regional Cooperation in East and Southeast Asia as a Decolonial Shift

Regional cooperation as a decolonial shift is manifested in Asia becoming a popular region for academic cooperation, challenging the long-standing preference to collaborate with Western institutions. For example, in Japan, while the United States and Europe remain popular destinations for outbound student mobility, a significant number of Japanese students now want to go to Asia because Asia is seen as dynamic. More explicitly, the manifestation of the decolonial shift lies in why regional cooperation is important for universities in East and Southeast Asia. Research suggests that regional cooperation is partly driven by the recognition that cultural and epistemic diversity in the region contributes to student learning. In China, university leaders are concerned about the majority of students preferring to study in Western countries, which may lead to students’ narrow understanding of the world. In response, some universities in China encourage students to study in Asia and to appreciate the cultural diversity in the region, sometimes through providing scholarships as incentives. This represents a decolonial shift where learning in and about Asia is increasingly considered valuable, giving legitimacy to the value of non-Western cultures and knowledge.

In the same vein, research suggests that there is a growing recognition among universities in East and Southeast Asia that epistemic traditions from Asia can contribute to epistemic diversity in the Western-centric global knowledge system. For example, Japanese universities have long been integrating traditional Japanese knowledge with Western knowledge, which is valuable to the global knowledge system. Furthermore, there is a recognition that the expertise and knowledge gained from regional partners can be more applicable to universities’ local contexts compared to that learned from Western universities.

In essence, regional cooperation in East and Southeast Asia represents a decolonial shift by recognizing Asia as a dynamic region for academic collaboration and valuing its cultural and epistemic diversity. This growing recognition and appreciation of Asia’s contributions to the global knowledge systems challenges Western dominance in global higher education.

Entrenched Coloniality in Global Higher Education

Yet, research suggests that there is still a perception that regional cooperation is secondary to Western partners. For example, in Vietnam, some university leaders see regional cooperation as an easier and more accessible approach to internationalization, but they aim to establish a global presence by collaborating with universities in countries like Italy or Sweden. Interestingly, African and Latin American universities are not mentioned when discussing these global ambitions. There is a similar tendency among universities in Thailand to prioritize collaboration with Western universities, despite the fact that regional universities, such as those in Indonesia or Malaysia, possess the expertise from which they seek to learn.

Furthermore, there is a perception that Asia is one entity, suggesting that a lack of diversity in the region makes it less inspiring compared to collaborating with universities outside of Asia, which brings more diversity and can possibly inspire solutions to Asia’s challenges. The preference for collaborating with Western institutions, rather than universities within their own region, in Africa, or in Latin America, suggests that Western dominance is deeply entrenched in global higher education and is unfortunately further reinforced by actors in non-Western countries themselves.

Research indicates that even in Japan, a country that is traditionally seen as part of the Global North, some universities aim to be more recognizable to universities in the West through being part of regional alliances. While collaborating with Western universities would be valuable and is not inherently problematic, the need for recognition by Western universities implies a power imbalance that places Western countries at the center.

Furthermore, historical imperialism and contemporary power dynamics within the East and Southeast Asia region might risk creating new forms of coloniality. For example, research suggests that Japanese university leaders recognize Japan’s historical involvement in war and colonization within the region, emphasizing the consequent responsibility of Japanese universities to contribute to a prosperous future for Southeast Asia. Japanese university leaders position regional collaboration with Southeast Asian universities as a critical mechanism to address historical legacies. Another example is Chinese universities’ engagement in capacity-building initiatives aimed at enhancing education systems in Southeast Asian countries. Chinese or Japanese universities imply their leading role in their relationships with universities in Southeast Asia, reflecting the two countries’ dominant position in the region. While these initiatives are well-intended, the intraregional power relations, if overlooked, might risk creating new forms of coloniality, where Chinese or Japanese knowledge traditions might assert dominance and legitimacy within the region, marginalizing other significant local knowledge traditions.

The Way Forward

In summary, research suggests that there is a growing recognition of Western dominance in global higher education and intentional efforts to highlight the cultural and epistemic diversity of East and Southeast Asia, as well as the regions’ contributions to the global knowledge system. These represent the hope to decolonize global higher education; that is, they represent the hope to cultivate the recognition and legitimation of diverse ways of being and ways of knowing. Yet, there seem to be enduring hurdles to decolonizing global higher education, particularly due to entrenched coloniality. Furthermore, intraregional power relations within East and Southeast Asia may give rise to new forms of coloniality if they are not critically examined and addressed.

As such, there is an urgent need to actively decolonize practices in higher education and beyond. While it is crucial for actors in Western countries to advocate for and participate in decolonization efforts, it is equally vital for those in non-Western countries to embrace and affirm the intrinsic value of different knowledge systems, including their own, and their equal contributions to global higher education. This requires acknowledging that non-Western traditions are often marginalized or deemed illegitimate—not due to any lack of inherent value, but as a consequence of historical colonialism and ongoing coloniality. Thus, it is important for all involved in global higher education to reflect on the underlying assumptions of our work, particularly addressing the presence of coloniality. Concretely, it is important to build both regional and global partnerships on the principles of equality, reciprocity, and respect for diverse ways of being and knowing.

You Zhang is postdoctoral fellow at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada. E-mail: [email protected].

This article is based on a previously published journal article: Zhang, Y. (2024). Higher Education Regionalization in East and Southeast Asia: Between Decolonization, Recolonization, and Self-colonization. Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-024-01295-x