Globalisation and Internationalism: Democratic prospects for world education

ABSTRACT

The logic of globalisation contrasts markedly with that of internationalism. The latter, with its intrinsically democratic foundation, looks to a world ordered by structures supportive of that functionalism which is embedded in accountability. Globalisation, by contrast, implies few logical imperatives in favour of accountability, but rather looks to the pursuit of interest on the global level through the operation of unfettered capitalism. Implications for the sustaining of multilateral post-war arrangements are explored and analysed particularly in terms of war, its causes and its prevention. The notion of peace as human rights in action leads to the consideration of multilateral agenda in education, and the stances in a globalising world of the key multilaterals in education-UNICEF, UNESCO and the World Bank-with conclusions put forward concerning their relative grounding in the logic of internationalism or, alternatively, in the logic of globalisation.