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In this volume, you will find a selection of consumer culture theory based research in consumer behavior. All were presented at the seventh conference on consumer culture theory held at Saïd Business School, Oxford University in August 2012. The papers in this volume were selected by the editors based on reviewer feedback on the qualities of these papers as well as editors’ readings of the various manuscripts.

At the end of the millennium Mexico faced the double challenge of adjusting to an economic policy based on open markets and the protection of a reinvigorated democratic political system through an increased awareness of civil rights and responsibilities among citizens. Nevertheless, tertiary education reforms shifted the onus on education from the formation of social capital to that of human capital. I consider the background of the introduction of the neo-liberal model in the Mexican economy, and the economists’ critique of the adequacy of that model. I contrast the latter to the educationalists’ debate in response to where it becomes apparent that the neoliberal model had come to dominate the conceptual framework in which the impact of the introduction of the reform model could be analyzed. Finally, I consider a recent text in which the neo-liberal tendencies in tertiary education are more clearly outlined, although an alternative option is not forthcoming. By situating my consideration of the challenges of a knowledge society firmly within the historical, social and economic context of Mexico, I indicate factors which such an alternative would need to take into account.

Christine Asmar works in the Institute for Teaching and Learning at the University of Sydney, Australia. Her current research considers questions of difference, internationalisation and globalisation in higher education, with particular reference to Muslim and Indigenous issues.

Welcome to the third volume of International Perspectives on Higher Education Research, a series which aims to feature something of the variety of research being undertaken into higher education systems and issues outside of North America. The theme of this volume is International Relations, or, in other words, how students, academics, universities and colleges, and higher education systems relate to each other across international borders.