Capital and global knowledge flows in art education: The US–Taiwan case.

This article critically examines the dynamics of global knowledge flows and the transformation of international scholars' capital through the case of Taiwanese art education scholars who earned doctorates in the United States and contributed to Taiwan’s art education. Using mixed methods, including surveys and interviews with six prominent Taiwanese scholars, the study identifies three key themes: knowledge as a commodity, branding and trading of US art education frameworks, and counter-narratives challenging unidirectional knowledge flows from the US to Taiwan. The findings highlight these scholars as active agents who strategically adapt and disseminate US theories while negotiating local cultural identities, thereby reshaping Taiwan’s art education landscape within a postcolonial and global capitalist context. The study calls for greater development of locally grounded theoretical frameworks and encourages other countries experiencing similar knowledge imbalances to critically engage with transnational knowledge production.