Constructions of the ‘educated person’ in the context of mobility, migration and globalisation

ABSTRACT

This special issue showcases ethnographies with young people in the Global South which draw on the common conceptual umbrella of the ‘identity of the educated person’ to unpack novel intersections between mobility, migration and education in the context of globalisation. Overarching themes include how definitions of the educated person are shaped by diverse identity constructions and axes of difference, notions of discipline and hardship, and global discourses and concepts which travel across international space. Definitions of the educated person are contested through migration processes, and young people’s agency within and beyond schools, through consumption practices and appropriation of popular culture.

KEYWORDS:

• Migration
• mobility
• globalisation
• youth
• education
• ethnography

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Anneke Newman http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3363-6326

Hannah Hoechner http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6804-2819

David Sancho http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3037-7701

Notes

1 Despite their prevalent use, we are cognisant of the pitfalls of looking at people’s experiences of migrancy merely through the lens of ‘generation’. Such a perspective prioritises a family’s first international move, and neglects subsequent moves as well as homeland ‘returns’ (see van Geel and Mazzucato 2017).

2 See Sara Delamont’s (2012) critique of both the anthropology of education and educational ethnography for focusing primarily on schools and neglecting other forms of education.

3 For instance, Sara Delamont (2012) argues that Anglophone anthropologists of education have overwhelmingly examined the school experiences of indigenous populations, African-Americans, ethnic minorities and recent migrants to the US – particularly when they are ‘failing’. When studies are conducted on populations outside the US, they still tend to be in areas where North American political influence is strong.

4 There are, of course, notable exceptions including in the domains that we have identified as being common preoccupations in the study of the intersections between migration and education. For instance, research has been undertaken on children’s perspectives regarding the impact of their migrant parents’ absence on their education and well-being (Fog Olwig 1999; Asis 2006; Graham et al. 2012); migrant youths’ experiences of integration within schools (Moskal 2014); young people’s aspirations in relation to migration and education (Hampshire et al. 2010; Crivello 2011; Azaola 2012; Newman 2019); and the experience of being an international university student (Caluya, Probyn, and Vyas 2011; Forstorp and Mellström 2013).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO) Vlaanderen; University of Antwerp, and Laboratoire d'Anthropologie des Mondes Contemporains, Université Libre de Bruxelles.