Following New Philanthropy by Network Ethnography - How Did the Varkey Foundation Land and Expand in Latin America

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by hdkawk

New philanthropy develops policy “problem-solving” through private actors’ money and ideas, producing distinct configurations across policy spaces with consequences for education governance. The study examines the Varkey Foundation’s “landing” and “expansion” in Latin America using network ethnography. Findings show how VF consolidated in Argentina, broadened across the region, and became a legitimate education policy actor. The work advances evidence on how policy networks enable cross-boundary consolidation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

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Pages27

Reading Time1 h 8 min

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Abstract

Purpose, Design/Approach/Methods, Findings, Originality/Value

Introduction

Following New Philanthropy by Network Ethnography: How Did the Varkey Foundation Land and Expand in Latin America? Iván Matovich Monash University Tomás Esper Columbia University ECNU Review of Education 2023, Vol. 6(4) 541–567 © The Author(s) 2023 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/20965311231168422](DOI: 10.1177/20965311231168422)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/20965311231168422)[journals.sagepub.com/home/roe](journals.sagepub.com/home/roe) Abstract Purpose: New philanthropy develops new forms of policy “problem-solving” through the inﬂux of private actors’ money and ideas. It adopts singular conﬁgurations across different policy spaces, with implications for education governance. We address this phenomenon by analyzing the Varkey Foundation’s (VF)“landing” and “expansion” in Latin America. VF is a global philanthropic organization registered in the United Kingdom in 2011 with a main hub in Argentina, where it landed in 2017 . Design/Approach/Methods: We use network ethnography to examine the inﬂuence of new philanthropy on education governance as this phenomenon demands new methods to grasp the“realities” of governing beyond conventional ways and understanding policy mobilities. Findings: Results indicate how VF “landed” in a little pro-market space via productive uses of policy networks. The second phase of data collection and analysis presents further consolidation of VF in Argentina, its expansion into Latin America, and its establishment as a legitimate education policy actor. Originality/Value: This study provides new evidence and insights into how policy networks Corresponding author: Iván Matovich, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Alliance Ln 3168, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia. Email: [ivan.matovich@monash.edu](ivan.matovich@monash.edu) Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as speciﬁed on the SAGE and Open Access page ([https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage](https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)). enable new philanthropy to land and consolidate within national boundaries and, later, across the region as a legitimate actor in education. Keywords Education policy, policy networks, network ethnography, new philanthropy, Varkey Foundation Date received: 9 December 2021; revised: 23 March 2022, 18 October 2022, 1 February 2023; accepted: 27 February 2023 Introduction In recent decades, nonstate actors have increased their participation in education policy through arrangements such as contracting, partnerships, networks across provision, ﬁnancing, regulation, and management (Srivastava & Baur, 2016) . This has had implications for the sector and state boundaries, as new actors and conceptions about education have inﬂuenced national education systems, making education policies more fragmented, multiscalar, and multisectoral (Robertson & Dale, 2013). New formal and nonformal spaces for networking and for-and non-proﬁt partnerships between state and nonstate actors are reshaping education governance both nationally and globally (Cortina & Lafuente, 2018) . This is part of a broader transformation of the state, producing signiﬁcant shifts in government and power relations, extensively referred to as the “governance turn”(Jessop, 1998) . New actors “do” policy in new ways and places connected in complex and evolving policy networks (Junemann et al., 2018) that entail a move from hierarchical to networked forms of governance based on “heterarchical” structures and polities formed through the interplay of the l

FAQs

What does “new philanthropy” mean in the study?

It links giving with outcomes and combines financial resources with explicit inflows of ideas, values, and actors embedded in private-sector practices and logic.

What research method is used to study the Varkey Foundation?

Network ethnography is used to examine the influence of new philanthropy on education governance and to understand policy mobilities and governing realities.

How did the Varkey Foundation expand in Latin America?

The study reports that VF “landed” through productive uses of policy networks in a pro-market space, then consolidated in Argentina and expanded across the region as a legitimate education policy actor.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by hdkawk