Reimagining Globalization and Education

This book brings together leading scholars in Global Studies in Education to reflect on how various developments of historic significance have unsettled the neoliberal imaginary of globalization. The developments include greater recognition of inequalities and the changing nature of work and communication; the emergence of new technologies of governance; a greater awareness of geopolitical shifts; the revival of nationalism, populism and anti-globalization sentiments; and the recognition of risks surrounding pandemics and climate change. Drawing from a range of disciplinary perspectives, the chapters in this collection examine how these developments demand new ways of thinking about globalization and its implications for education policy and practice — beyond the neoliberal imaginary.

Over the past decade, several major developments have unsettled the neoliberal imaginary of globalization. These developments include: the greater recognition of inequalities within and across nations; innovations in mobile technologies and shifts in communicative cultures; growing awareness of environmental issues and climate change; the rise of Asia and the changing geopolitics of the world; recognition of the risks surrounding pandemics; ‘datafication’ and the consolidation of audit cultures and new modes of governance, developments in artificial intelligence and biotechnology; and the revival of nationalism, populism and anti-globalization sentiments. The aim of this book is to bring together a collection of original essays written by some of the leading scholars in Global Studies in Education to reflect on the ways in which these developments have challenged the cultural and political authority of the neoliberal imaginary of globalization, creating conditions in which globalization needs to be reimagined, as well as its implications for thinking about educational policy and practice.

The significance of this book lies in the robust conversations it is expected to stimulate about the ways in which globalization and education might now be reimagined in the light of the growing recognition of the contradictions of neoliberalism, as well as a range of historical transformations that have taken place over the past decade.