The coloniality of internationalization: towards a power-conscious framework for studying the experiences of international students in Western contexts

While existing scholarship has demonstrated that the experiences of international students in Western contexts are shaped by colonial power relations undergirding higher education internationalization, there remains a dearth of a comprehensive and nuanced perspective on international students' relationships to colonial forms of power. To address the research gap in question, this paper proposes the development of a power-conscious framework to elucidate the international student-colonial power entanglement. Developed through a systematic literature review, the framework foregrounds three interrelated themes - subjugation, submission, and subversion - capturing the multifaceted interplay between international students and colonial forms of power. By emphasizing the complexities of the interplay, the framework challenges static portrayals of international students vis-& agrave;-vis colonial forms of power, highlighting the dynamics among the students' vulnerability to, complicity in, and potential to resist the paradigm of otherness rooted in colonial forms of power. The framework also underscores the importance of situating inquiries on international students within the broader context of the lived realities of marginalized communities in settler colonial states, emphasizing the need to critically examine the responsibilities and agency of international students in unsettling ongoing colonial legacies of domination and oppression. Based on the development of the power-conscious framework, this paper contributes to advancing a transformative understanding of international student experiences and the (im)possibilities of engaging with internationalization in a more equitable and inclusive manner.