Kenneth King

Kenneth King was Director of the Centre of African Studies and Professor of International and Comparative Education at the University of Edinburgh for many years.  He is now Emeritus Professor in its School of Education and School of Social and Political Studies.
His research interests over the years have focused on the politics and history of international education and skills, including higher education and skills development in both the formal and informal sectors of the economy, and on aid policy.

For the last ten years, he has focused some of his attention on China’s aid policies towards Africa, especially in education and training, and has recently completed a book on China and Africa (James Currey, May 2013), title: China’s Aid and Soft Power in Africa: The Case of Education. This is also available in Chinese, with Zhejiang University Press (2015).

For 30 years he has edited NORRAG News, an international journal on the politics and policies of international education and cooperation (freely available at  HYPERLINK "http://www.norrag.org" www.norrag.org). The most recent issue is on Refugees, displaced persons and education: New challenges for development and policy (May 2016).

He has also edited a number of books on international higher education, and in particular written a volume with Simon MGrath on Knowledge for Development? Comparing British, Japanese, Swedish and World Bank aid (Zed Books, 2004). He has also published extensively on education and the informal economies of Africa, and especially Kenya.