What skills for the future? The knowledge economy as a coalition magnet
通过分析2005-2022年四国报纸数据，发现知识经济概念被政策制定者灵活用作联盟磁石，不同国家围绕技能需求与社会包容等议题形成不同政治联盟。
Enhancing economic competitiveness in the knowledge economy requires policies that align workforce skills with emerging demands. This paper examines the discursive battle over the skills of the future and argues that the idea of the knowledge economy works as a ‘coalition magnet’. Policymakers use the ‘knowledge economy’ flexibly together with ideas about skill needs and social inclusion to assemble political coalitions that support distinct interpretations of the knowledge economy that vary over time and cross-nationally. We conduct a discourse network analysis, examining data from newspapers over the period 2005–2022. We find that in Denmark and Germany, high and general skill needs are a magnet for social inclusion ideas, fostering a discourse focused on a ‘social’ view of the knowledge economy. In contrast, in France and the UK, high and general skill needs are a magnet for ideas related to other skill concerns, particularly concerning mid-skilled workers. These combinations are driven by different actor constellations: private actors in Denmark and the UK, and the state in France and Germany, use the knowledge economy as a coalition magnet.