Recent work in comparative education has focused on the re-emergence of cosmopolitanism as a central theme in comparative educational thought, discourse, and practice. Historically, cosmopolitanism has considered problems independent of nationstate distinctions, directly challenging comparative education’s historical affiliation with the individual nation-state as its primary context and unit of analysis. Contemporary patterns of transnational cooperation and conflict suggest the need for a different framework, one that might more effectively account for developments as ‘local’ institutions and practices come into intensifying contact with ‘global’ forces and developments. Though it has ancient roots in Cynic-influenced Stoic philosophy, cosmopolitan thinking may offer a fresh resource, given its long preoccupation with tensions between universal and local orders and the ensuing dilemmas in reconciling ‘sameness’ with ‘difference.’ More concretely, cosmopolitanism encourages reassessments of cross-border responsibility, illustrating the educational challenges of promoting transnational social justice, global citizenship, and human dignity across familiar social boundaries and divisions. It thus might provide an opportunity for comparative education scholars to reconsider and re-conceptualize the reigning intellectual frameworks, ethical positions, and practical categories of their field and methodologies.
The recent popularity of cosmopolitanism in comparative education is only now beginning to grow beyond the preoccupations and limitations of its ancient roots to embrace transformative, non-Western, or critical, dissenting perspectives. In order to explore these developments, the editors of Current Issues in Comparative Education are seeking papers for its upcoming issue (Volume 12, Issue 1, to be published Fall 2009) that focus on the impact of cosmopolitanism’s revival in comparative education discourse. The papers in this issue will explore the potential contributions and limitations of cosmopolitan ways of thinking, doing, and being in comparative education. Papers may address questions such as the following:
- Why should comparative education be concerned with or interested in cosmopolitanism? Is comparative education itself cosmopolitan? Does cosmopolitanism have a place or location within current approaches to teaching and conducting research in comparative education?
- In what ways can cosmopolitanism provide a theoretical perspective from which to better understand and/or to reconstruct dominant frameworks in comparative education? For instance, can recent research in educational globalization – focusing on the cross-national ‘borrowing’ and ‘lending’ of educational policies, practices, and values – be considered an example of cosmopolitanism? To what extent can theories of ‘world culture’ be viewed as a continuation of (or departure from) cosmopolitan thinking, and with what implications?
- What are the ethical and practical implications of cosmopolitanism? Is cosmopolitanism simply analogous to human rights discourse – a seemingly well-intentioned, but nonetheless hegemonic, universalism? Or does cosmopolitanism provide education scholars with fresh resources for thinking about the possibilities of research and practice across diverse and plural cultural contexts? How does cosmopolitanism inform various approaches and effort in multiculturalism?
- Does cosmopolitanism constitute a distinctive method or way of engaging the multiple tensions that arise from the ebb and flow of global, international, and interpersonal exchange that results from the cross-border displacement of people, the global diffusion of ideas, and transfer of educational policies the blur and erase real and imagined boundaries on the ground? How might this approach inform research and practice in comparative education and what can this sort of cosmopolitanism as method offer the field?
- How might cosmopolitanism play a role in research on international schools and study abroad programs? What impact might the cosmopolitan ethic for responsibility beyond state borders influence aid?
Although all submissions will be considered for publication, primary consideration will be given to submissions that engage the call for papers as described. Papers reflecting cross-disciplinary perspectives making innovative theoretical and/or empirical contributions are especially encouraged.
Manuscript Submissions
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Download
- Call for Papers, Volume 12, Issue 1 (PDF)
- CICE Submission Guidelines (PDF)
