Global citizenship education as a living ethical philosophy for social justice

Abstract

Envisioning a global citizenship education (GCE) that critically engages with neo-liberalism could be considered as being ‘feasibly utopian’. Yet, one of the core challenges facing GCE is that the market has been given too dominant position by the hegemony of neo-liberal doctrines, which has caused a growing number of schools and universities to approach curricular matters guided by concepts of international leadership, focusing on introducing innovation to curricula to satisfy international standards, participate in the global market and enter partnerships with industry and commerce. Given the ‘dominance’ of neo-liberal doctrines, it can be complex to pose alternative positions of GCE that are more oriented towards critical pedagogy. The articles in this issue explore philosophical, ethical and pedagogical visions of GCE focused on the relationship between world politics and social justice, women’s leadership and power, reflexive dialogic praxis and critical consciousness, de-colonialism and social responsibility. In different ways, each of the articles contributes to a re-imagined vision for GCE, through the important process of rethinking GCE for the common good.