Global education policy, impact evaluations, and alternatives: The political economy of knowledge production

This chapter delineates what it means to bring a political economy lens to the issue of knowledge production within the field of global education policy. In addition to characterizing this perspective generally, this chapter addresses knowledge production in relation to the World Bank, one of the most influential knowledge-producing organizations in this field and the organization at the center of the empirical case presented in this book. Both the material and ideational dimensions of the World Bank's influence are discussed. Beyond these issues, this chapter also (a) defines and characterizes impact evaluation; (b) discusses the purpose, argument, and contribution of this book; (c) provides background information on the policy case from El Salvador that serves as the book's empirical basis; and (d) situates this book in relation to previous work by the author.