Contribution short abstract:

The paper considers the notion of Knowledge Partnership Policy scripts beyond the Global North and Global South concepts. It proposes a new gateway towards a practical Global Policy discourse and practice which is pragmatic in nature in that it advocates for basic rather than applied research.

Contribution long abstract:

The paper considers the notion of Knowledge Partnership Policy scripts beyond the Global North and Global South concepts. It reviews the theoretical and practical implications of the current policy trend to include emerging and developing countries in international knowledge partnerships through the case study of German, South African and Mozambican capacity-building programs. Germany has historical knowledge of partnership policies, frameworks, and programs with various African countries. In such endeavours, these countries have expressed the desire to confront the legacies of traditional structures of inequality in international scientific, educational and development cooperation to embrace a more equitable and pragmatic approach. The paper examines the present-day countries’ global science and higher education policy discourses and practices against the standards and evaluation criteria proposed in such policies. The analysis aims to shed light on the underlying assumptions of the concepts and processes perpetuating traditional asymmetries in knowledge partnerships' global political economy. Finally, the paper suggests addressing the enduring legacy of unequal North-South knowledge policy scripts and institutional practices. It also offers a realist spectrum of decentred knowledge locations, with diverse purposes and traditions suggesting the need for a revised set of foundational assumptions on North-South cooperation and partnerships away from the obsolete capacity-building approach. The paper proposes a new gateway towards a practical Global Policy discourse and practice which is pragmatic in nature in that it advocates for basic rather than applied research.