Exploring Global Citizenship

Global citizenship means a lot of different things in different contexts, but its contested nature is seldom highlighted. A few years ago at Ustinov College, we were using the term but not clearly articulating what being a global citizen actually meant in our community. Gradually, new participants drew attention to the employability-focused representations of global citizenship in higher education, arguing that they were neoliberal and antithetical to global citizenship. We took this critique on board and dedicated a lot of time to critically exploring global citizenship, through seminars, workshops and training – and we set up the Ustinov Annual Conference specifically for this purpose.

We have also become involved in developing reflective approaches to global citizenship through the international Matariki Global Citizenship Programme, together with staff and faculty in the Matariki Network of Universities.