Reimagining soft power: Exploring scholar agency in UK’s Chevening and Germany’s DAAD Scholarship narratives

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ID: 286367
2025
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Abstract
Nation branding serves as a crucial lifeline for both Germany and the United Kingdom, shaping their global influence and strategic positioning. Germany benefits from its EU ties but faces scrutiny over its historical legacy, turning to education and economic growth as stabilizing forces. Post-Brexit, the UK seeks to redefine itself through sovereignty, quality governance, and distinctive branding in education to sustain influence outside the EU. Both countries have long used flagship scholarship programs—Germany’s DAAD and the UK’s Chevening—as instruments of educational diplomacy to reinforce their nation brands and strengthen bilateral relations, especially with the Philippines. Moving beyond Joseph Nye’s traditional, sender-centric definition of soft power, this study reimagines soft power as a negotiated, co-creative process. In this framework, scholarship recipients actively shape, reinforce, or contest the intended national image. Drawing on Walter Fisher’s narrative paradigm, the research applies narrative criticism to interviews with diplomats, program administrators, and Filipino alumni, as well as official program materials. Findings reveal that while DAAD emphasizes epistemic partnership and moral rehabilitation, Chevening highlights multicultural leadership and institutional prestige. Filipino scholars, however, reinterpret these narratives through values such as utang na loob (debt of gratitude) and deep sense of para sa kapwa (for others). In doing so, they sometimes challenge aspects of the programs that do not align with their local realities. The study concludes that soft power operates as a co-created, iterative process rather than a one-way transmission. It offers a reimagined definition of soft power and practical recommendations for scholarship design, while inviting future research to test this framework in other geopolitical and educational contexts. keywords: education diplomacy, scholarships, nation-branding, soft power, rhetorical criticism, Chevening, DAAD
Reference Key
persistent_1760658367_68f183bf323d6 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Salanga, John Rei P.
Journal Malay Journal
Year 2025
DOI
DOI not found
URL
https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdb_intlstud/15
Keywords Keywords not found

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