Global Education, Disempowerment, and Curricula for a World Politics

Abstract

Global education is supposed to empower. However, this article argues that global education is often premised on an idea about the inexorabilityof “globalization” that acts to de-politicize global life and disempower students. Though it is important to retrieve a sense of the human agencybehind “globalization,” this article argues that we also should work to disempower our students in certain respects, challenging their sense of interpretive privilege and cultural superiority. The article advocates trying to strike two balances. First, it argues for finding a balance between creating a sense of the possibilities for change and recognition of the limits of human agency. Second, the article aims to locate a balance between empowering our students while cultivating a sense of humilityin the face of a complex world, a willingness to live with ambiguity, and an ethos of political self-restraint when in an advantaged position.