Sociological Criteria for a Viable Global Group

Abstract

Although global education has been enthusiastically advocated, a thorough intellectual foundation for the movement is assumed rather than apparent in global education literature. This article analyzes one frequently implied theme, viable existence of a social group which encompasses the globe. The proposed global group is analyzed by application of three criteria which define the viability of other social groups. One is group justification through comparison with other existing groups. The second is the psychosocial development of individual group consciousness of membership. Third is the structural features which unify inhabitants in national groups. These sociological criteria do not support the existence of the hypothesized global group.

A clear intellectual rationale for the global group concept of global education literature appears to be lacking. The assumption that consciousness of a social group on a global scale is intellectually sound and constitutes a viable supporting rationale for global education curricula is contained in global education goal statements. Goals have been formulated without questioning whether criteria which sociologists use to define other social groups can be effectively transferred to a hypothesized global group.