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Circulation and containment in the knowledge-based economy: Transnational education zones in Dubai and Qatar

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  • Tim Rottleb
  • Jana M. Kleibert

Abstract

Our analysis focuses on evolving global capitalism's production of high-skilled temporary migrant labour through the technology of special economic zones. Drawing on debates in economic geography on zones as globalised spaces of production and interdisciplinary scholarship on economic transformation in the Arabian Peninsula, we interrogate a relatively new type of zone that agglomerates foreign higher education institutions: transnational education zones. We conceptualise these zones as a distinct form of exceptional space produced by aspirations for a knowledge-based economy. Transnational education zones provide financial benefits and legal exemptions to state territory for international higher education investors who operate offshore campuses. By conducting a situated empirical analysis of transnational education zones’ logics and mechanisms in Dubai and Qatar, we show how these zones function as sites of circulation and containment that allow governments to harness globally circulating people and institutions for building a knowledge-based economy, while aiming to contain their social and political impact locally. While the underlying contradictions of simultaneous circulation and containment of knowledge and knowledge workers are modulated by the exceptional character of the zones, they cannot be fully resolved. In many ways, transnational education zones constitute a continuation of established strategies for economic development by exception that have been pursued by governments in the Gulf, which aim for global connectivity and rely heavily on controlling a temporary and contingent migrant workforce.

Suggested Citation

  • Tim Rottleb & Jana M. Kleibert, 2022. "Circulation and containment in the knowledge-based economy: Transnational education zones in Dubai and Qatar," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 54(5), pages 930-948, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:54:y:2022:i:5:p:930-948
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X221077105
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kleibert, Jana M. & Rottleb, Tim & Schulze, Marc & Bobée, Alice, 2021. "Strategy first: Ten questions to answer before starting an international campus," IRS Dialog 2/2021, Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS).
    2. Gokhan Akinci & Thomas Farole, 2011. "Special Economic Zones : Progress, Emerging Challenges, and Future Directions," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2341, April.
    3. Michael C. Ewers & Edward J. Malecki, 2010. "Leapfrogging Into The Knowledge Economy: Assessing The Economic Development Strategies Of The Arab Gulf States," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 101(5), pages 494-508, December.
    4. Robina Mohammad & James D. Sidaway, 2016. "Shards and Stages: Migrant Lives, Power, and Space Viewed from Doha, Qatar," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 106(6), pages 1397-1417, November.
    5. Adam Hanieh, 2011. "Capitalism and Class in the Gulf Arab States," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-11960-4, June.
    6. Michelle Buckley & Adam Hanieh, 2014. "Diversification by Urbanization: Tracing the Property-Finance Nexus in Dubai and the Gulf," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 155-175, January.
    7. Olds, Kris, 2007. "Global Assemblage: Singapore, Foreign Universities, and the Construction of a "Global Education Hub"," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 959-975, June.
    8. Kleibert, Jana M. & Bobée, Alice & Rottleb, Tim & Schulze, Marc, 2021. "Transnational education zones: Towards an urban political economy of ‘education cities’," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 58(14), pages 2845-2862.
    9. Jana M Kleibert & Alice Bobée & Tim Rottleb & Marc Schulze, 2021. "Transnational education zones: Towards an urban political economy of ‘education cities’," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(14), pages 2845-2862, November.
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    1. Siqi Che & Dan Liu & Qiuxi Liu, 2025. "What Are Student Motivations for and Expectations of Transnational Higher Education (TNHE): A Scoping Review," SAGE Open, , vol. 15(4), pages 21582440251, October.

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