Universal principles transform national priorities: Bologna Process and Russian teacher education

In 2003, the Russian Federation joined the Bologna Process, which accompanied the introduction of global neoliberal reforms into the Russian post-socialist space. To examine these transformations, I juxtapose foreign language teacher education program documents before and after the introduction of neoliberal policies. Participation in the Bologna Process re-conceptualized the teacher's role from a public intellectual to a technocrat, contributed to a fragmentation of subject knowledge preparation, and began promoting the individualism of the new capitalism. I present responses to the Bologna Process by Russian academics and teacher educators and argue that neoliberal reforms may have long-lasting negative consequences.