Global Citizenship: Allegiance to What, Exactly?

Abstract

‘Globalisation’ is a recent concept. Today, schools are expected to teach youth about globalisation and prepare them to face its threats and take advantage of its opportunities. There are diverse orientations toward globalisation, however. Debates over globalisation’s impact filter down into controversies over the role of globalisation in education. How much or what to teach, for sustainable development, neoliberal economic globalisation, or what Nussbaum described as ‘compassionate global citizenship’ is an open question today. Tension also emerges with the use of the term ‘global citizenship’, with its reconceptualisation of nation-state citizenship in terms of the global. The slogan, ‘think global, act local’ and other variants of ‘glocalism’ contrast these contexts while encouraging their harmonisation. This lecture examines globalisation and different orientations toward it as they relate to education. It considers the extent to which various global orientations are emphasised as part of civic education, particularly in light of the competing influence of nationally oriented aims, goals, and orientations. The lecture concludes that strong messages of cosmopolitan global civic allegiance are unlikely to reach students, in contrast to more nationally oriented, neoliberal global citizenship themes.