Politics of Immobility: Global Knowledge Production and the Study of Europe in Asia

Europe and Asia find themselves increasingly connected. Why then do we find limited knowledge mobility in the study of Europe throughout Asia? What factors drive this immobility? This article takes account of the existing literature and complements it by offering a more global picture of European Studies in Asia. Throughout, we assume a decidedly political perspective. The study of Europe, we claim, is not only an academic affair, but subject to a politics of (im‐)mobility driven by state and non‐state funders and influenced by local as well as domestic diplomatic, trade‐related, and strategic factors. The article aims at contributing to our understanding of how Europe is studied in Asia and highlights the importance of non‐educational factors for future debates about knowledge mobility and the possibility of a global science.