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Overview
We invite submissions that advocate for and explore the incorporation of alternative and multiple epistemologies in the global governance of education. While literature critiquing the Western foundations of global education policy has grown in recent years, there are scant studies that address whether or not (or the extent to which) it is possible for various actors to “decolonize,” that is, to move in a decolonial direction. To this end, the special issue seeks to highlight scholarship that approaches “global education governance” from non-traditional, alternative, or, indeed, subversive perspectives informed by decolonial critique. In doing so, our interest is in going beyond established and well-worn critiques of the legacies of colonialism for global governance and for education more broadly. That is, motivation for this special issue stems from a desire—both—to explore tensions, initiatives, and complexities that are rooted in critiques of, and alternatives to, Western onto-epistemological foundations while also engaging and addressing more recent critical assessments of the decolonial turn that have emerged from those sympathetic to the decolonial project.
By centering decolonial perspectives and advocating for the incorporation of alternative and multiple epistemologies, this special issue aims to contribute to epistemic justice and pluriversality in global governance in education. While the decolonial approach offers much-needed space to problematize the false universalization of global education discourses, it remains largely conceptual, and more empirical studies are needed to add substance and complexity to the theoretical and conceptual discussion of decolonial scholarship. Specifically, this special issue will explore what alternative approaches are available to make “global” education policy more inclusive, while highlighting the tensions and complexities inherent in such undertakings.
List of topic area
It is envisioned that articles will cover a broad range of topics, such as the following:
(a) whose knowledge and worldviews are incorporated in global education policy, questioning the anthropocentric assumptions of modernity and the relationships between human and non-humans; and
(b) the ways in which non-Western worldviews, knowledges, beliefs, and learning systems are being included―or marginalized/erased—in conversations and work around global education agendas (including, but not restricted to, SDG4 and the OECD’s Education 2030).
(c) examples of efforts by various actors to decolonize global education policy and practice, through exercising critical self-reflexivity and meaningful inter-cultural dialogue, while moving beyond essentialism and ethno-nationalism.
(d) approaches “global education governance” from non-traditional, alternative, or subversive perspectives informed by and going beyond cognate decolonial critique.
(e) work on parallel forms of transnational initiative or solidarity in/through education working from alternative/non-Western onto-epistemic perspectives in order to ensure, e.g., survivability, sustainability, and mutual thriving.
(f) exploration of tensions, initiatives and complexities that are rooted in critiques of, and alternatives to, Western onto-epistemological foundations of global education governance while also engaging and addressing more recent critical assessments of the decolonial turn that have emerged from those sympathetic to the decolonial project.
Timeline
Abstract submission close: End of January, 2025
Abstract acceptance: End of February, 2025
Submission open: March 1, 2025
Submission close: End of June, 2025
Guidelines for Abstract Submission
We kindly request potential contributors to submit their proposals (abstracts) by the end of January 2025. Abstracts are expected to be around 500 words and must include the paper title, aims, methods, theoretical approach, and how they connect to the core themes of the Special Issue. Please submit your abstract using the following form here.
Paper Submission information
- Papers should be up to 8,000 words, including the structured abstract and references. Please refer to Author Guidelines for detailed submission guidelines under ‘Manuscript Requirements’.
- Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here: Click here to submit
- Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e., in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to.”
- Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.
Guest Editor
Dr. D. Brent Edwards Jr., University of Hawaii, USA
D. Brent Edwards Jr. is Department Chair and Professor of Theory and Methodology in the Study of Education at the University of Hawaii. His work focuses on (a) the global governance of education and (b) education policy, politics and political economy, with a focus on low-income countries. Within these two research lines, Edwards has primarily focused on investigating the rise of global education policies and the influence of international organizations. His research draws on frameworks and concepts from global political economy, international relations, critical policy studies, systems thinking, organizational theory, policy sociology, and post-/decolonial literature in order to explain and problematize global trends in education.
Dr. Taeko Okitsu, Otsuma Women’s University, Japan
Taeko Okitsu is Professor of International Educational Development in the Faculty of Humanities at Otsuma Women’s University, Japan. Her research focuses on global education policies, the politics of international aid in education, and the dynamic intersections of global educational policies and local practices, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. She has recently developed her research interests in how global discourses and the performances of International Large-Scale Assessment (ILSAs) critically interact with the construction of ‘national brand’ in education by countries in the Global North, contributing to the rise of national education export strategies by these countries, including Japan.
Dr. Oshie Nishimura-Sahi, Tampere university, Finland
Oshie Nishimura-Sahi is a postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Education and Culture, Tampere University. Her interests include global education policies and trends, the transnational mobility of educational ideas, and the interactions among diverse actors in policy transfer processes. In her current work, she seeks to advance methodological and epistemological diversity in comparative education research by incorporating Japanese intellectual traditions and employing autobiographical ethnography. She has been a member of the Editorial Team of Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education since 2020.
Examples and relevant references
Arvin, M. et al. (2013). Decolonizing feminism: Challenging connections between settler colonialism and heteropatriarchy. Feminist Formations, 25(1), 8-34.
Auld, E. & Elfert, M. (2024). The waning legitimacy of international organisations and their promisory visions. Comparative Education, Online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1080/03050068.2024.2371271
Edwards Jr., D.B. (2021). Globalization and education: Understanding and problematizing approaches to global governance and the global education policy field, In H. Steyn & C. Wolhuter (Eds.), Critical issues in education systems: Comparative-international perspectives (pp. 247-278). Axiom.
Edwards Jr., D.B. (2024). Hidden in plain sight: The foundations and limitations of global governance and global goals. International Journal of Educational Development, 106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2024.103013
Escobar, A. et al. (2024). Relationality: An emergent politics of life beyond the human. Bloomsbury.
Grosfoguel, R. (2013). The structure of knowledge in Westernized universities: Epistemic racism/sexism and the four genocides/epistemicides of the long 16th century. Human Architecture, 11(1), 73–90.
Lobo, M. et al. (2024). Planetary justice: Stories and studies of action, resistance, and solidarity. Bloomsbury. Open access: https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/edcollbook-oa/book/9781529235…
Means, A. (2024). Beyond epistemic exodus in educational studies: A response to Jordi Collet-Sabé and Stephen J. Ball. Journal of Education Policy, 39(3), 480-489.
Moosavi, L. (2020). The decolonial bandwagon and the dangers of intellectual decolonization. International Review of Sociology, 30(2), 332-354.
Nakata, M. et al. (2012). Decolonial goals and pedagogies for Indigenous studies. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), 120-140.
Nxumalo, F., & Cedilo, S. (2017) Decolonizing place in early childhood studies: Thinking with indigenous epistemologies and Black feminist geographies. Global Studies of Childhood 7(2), 99-112.2043610617703831 (sagepub.com)
Saito, Y. et al. (2023). The onto-epistemic foundations of global governance and global education policies: A decolonial analysis of global citizenship education in Hawai‘i. Comparative Education Review, 67(4), 727–748. https://doi.org/10.1086/726613
Sharma, N. (2015). Strategic anti-essentialism: Decolonizing decolonization. In K. McKittrick (Ed.), Sylvia Wynter: On being human as praxis (pp. 164-182). Duke University Press.
Sharma, G., & Sayed, Y. (2024). Global governance and a new social contract for education: Addressing power asymmetries, Prospects, online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-024-09696-7
Silova, I. et al. (2020). Beyond the Western horizon in educational research: Toward a deeper dialogue about our interdependent futures, ECNU Review of Education, 3(1), 3-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/2096531120905195
Silova, I. et al. (2020). Beyond the Western horizon: Rethinking education, values, and policy transfer. In G. Fan & T. Popkewitz (Eds.), Handbook of education policy studies (pp. 3-30). Springer. https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/39545/2020_Book…;
Sriprakash, A. et al. (2019). The erasures of racism in education and international development: re-reading the ‘global learning crisis.’ Compare 50(5): 676-692.
Sumida Huaman, E. (2022). How indigenous scholarship changes the field: Pluriversal appreciation, decolonial aspirations, and comparative indigenous education. Comparative Education Review, 66(3), 391-416.
Sumida Huaman, E. & Walker, J. (2024). Beyond sustainability: Indigenous knowledge systems for locally and globally renewing earth relations. International Journal of Educational Development, 103. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059323002110
Stein et al. (2024). Education beyond green growth: Regenerative inquiry for intergenerational responsibility. Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education, 8(2).
Takayama, K. (2020). Engaging with the more-than-human and decolonial turns in the land of Shinto cosmologies: “Negative” comparative education in practice. ECNU Review of Education, 3(1), 46–65.
Takayama, K. et al. (2017). Toward a postcolonial comparative and international education. Comparative Education Review, 61(S1), S1–S24.
Zembylas, M. (2017). The contribution of the ontological turn in education: Some methodological and political implications. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49(14), 1401-1414.
Zembylas, M. (2023). Toward affective decolonization: Nurturing decolonizing solidarity in higher education. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 20(4), 300-319.
Zembylas, M. (2024). Unlearning emotional imperialism in education: Political, theoretical, and pedagogical implications. Discourse, 45(4), 569-582.
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