On the (re)move: exploring governmentality in post-colonial Macao’s higher education

ABSTRACT This paper explores the governmentality in Macao’s higher education (HE) by exemplifying how neoliberalism and Chinese nationalism simultaneously inform the governmental rationalities and technologies in the city. Like many other systems, neoliberalism has substantially shaped Macao’s HE. However, owing to post-colonial identity, Chinese nationalism has become a significant driving force in the development of Macao’s HE after the handover. On the basis of governmentality and a qualitative single case approach, this paper demonstrates how the neoliberal logic and nationalist discourses frame the governmentality in post-colonial Macao’s HE. The paper further argues that the recent development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area signifies an intensification of national integration that is deliberately associated with a wave of marketisation in HE. These developments represent the economic and political imperatives of Macao’s HE policy and provide insights into Chineseness in HE within the contemporary political context.