Overlapping knowledge regimes of the EU and China: grassroots pragmatism in Kazakhstan

Abstract

Geopolitical competition is reshaping the knowledge order, which is composed of overlapping knowledge regimes. This article examines how such competition manifests in the everyday practices of academic communities in the Global South. Focusing on Kazakhstan, which participates in both the European Higher Education and Research Area (EHERA) and China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) education and research community, we examine interactions between these knowledge regimes and Kazakhstani academia. Drawing on project mapping, co-authorship statistics, qualitative interviews with Kazakhstani academics, and previous studies, we analyse the policies of the two regimes and their materialisation in Kazakhstan, as well as how academics navigate their overlap in everyday practices. Our findings show that although the European and Chinese knowledge regimes differ at the policy level, the resulting regime complexity and geopolitical rivalry are not necessarily visible or meaningful at the local level. Rather, grassroots actors engage in academic collaboration guided by pragmatism.