Reforming Higher Education in Poland: Juridification and Practices of Simulation

Abstract

This article concerns juridification in Polish higher education, analyzed in the context of the reforms of the science and education sector from the 1990s until the present. Using the Polish example, we present juridification as a process which generates and legitimizes (reinforces) practices of simulation. This conception allows us to explain the development of legal discourse, along with its consequences in discursive and non-discursive practices. The main research question was how juridification manifests itself in the reforms of science and higher education in Poland after the political transformation of 1989. We included two types of sources: 1) secondary sources (previous research on the transformation of the higher education system in Poland) and 2) primary sources – key legal acts regulating the sector, with comments and materials provided by the Ministry.