Surveys of Lifelong Learning as Contributors to Neoliberal Processes of “Southering”

This chapter examines the emergence of international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) as a way of moving toward the United Nation’s 17 sustainable development goals, specifically the fourth goal which pertains to education and lifelong learning. We trace the ways in which ILSAs contribute to the portrayal of low-income countries as inferior and low-performing. Most of these surveys are conducted by influential international organizations like the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. As a result, these organizations are in a position of power and thus exert considerable influence on the education policies of states, but they also significantly determine the discourse in the context of sustainable development. We refer to theoretical assumptions from postcolonial studies including epistemic violence and othering. In our analysis, we include visual representations such as tables and world maps displaying results of international large-scale assessments.