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Abstract:

In this paper, I argue that despite the growing literature on higher education internationalization in Central Asia, such literature still needs to be examined for its criticality. My integrative systematic review of the literature on higher education internationalization in Central Asia, denoting Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, helps address this lacuna. The paper utilizes critical internationalization perspectives to examine how much literature on internationalization in the region addresses the critical questions currently dominating the internationalization discourse globally. I analyzed 56 peer-reviewed journal articles published in English between 2012 and 2022 to address the following themes: (1) internationalization as Westernization, (2) internationalization and the modernization of the university, (3) internationalization equals Englishization, and (4) internationalization and the recreation of unequal relations. This systematic integrative review presents a picture of the academic work on higher education internationalization in Central Asia. I argue that internationalization in Central Asia has a unidirectional element, as seen in the growing number of international university branch campuses, the growing number of Western-educated faculty, and partnerships with Western universities, among many initiatives under the term internationalization. To Stein, these observations demonstrate that “Europeans (Westerners) are considered as the only viable knowledge creators and arbiters of legitimacy” (2017, p. S28). Such an observation is corroborated by the reviewed empirical studies that consistently characterize internationalization, scaffolded by the West, as modernization and development. The rapid growth of universities using English is widely reported, illustrating the language as the mainstay of the most desirable international higher education. The review paper argues that internationalization, as currently practised, is dominated by Western knowledge and, in the process, undermining non-Western knowledges and languages - a trend observed in Central Asia as Western universities and epistemological systems establish themselves. I conclude that the published work does not promote the reimagination of dominant patterns of relationship, representation and resource distribution. By providing a systematic review, I hope to help academics, researchers, students, administrators, and policymakers reflect upon and reimagine internationalization practices.