Rethinking global citizenship education with/for transnational youth

Abstract

This paper compares state-led approaches to global citizenship education, driven by the concerns of national security, with the kinds of citizenship formation transnational youth acquire through their experiences in transnational social fields. I show that these transnational experiences—particularly their relationships with loved ones in their countries of origin—naturally foster the types of skills, competencies and global awareness that are typically emphasised in global citizenship education, but also a more critical engagement with global structures of power. I suggest that diaspora third space pedagogies that build on these experiences can address some of the shortcomings of state-led GCE.