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Much is made of the persistent structures of inequality that determine the production and distribution of goods and services across the world, but less is known about the inequalities of global academic knowledge production, and even a smaller amount about the nature of the publication industry upon which this production process depends. Reflecting on an international study of academic publishing that has been framed within the lens of Southern theory, this article explores some of the issues facing those who work and publish in the global South, and offers an analysis of several of the mechanisms that assist to maintain the inequalities of the knowledge system. The focus then moves to an examination of some recent developments in academic publishing which challenge the dominance of the global North: the building of alternative transnational circuits of publishing that provide effective pathways for the distribution of academic knowledge from ‘inside the global South’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the sociological perspective of prevalent theories of the policy process of privatization. Governments in several countries are gradually accepting the need for privatization and other market oriented reforms due to the shortcomings of maintaining an extensive welfare state and a large public sector. According to several studies, privatization policy is selected in order to achieve key goals such as equity, efficiency, reliability, and consumer choice. Therefore, according to many social scientists, privatization is viewed as a political phenomenon rather than economic, administrative, or fiscal.