Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco and Desiree Baolian Qin-Hilliard , Globalization: Culture and Education in the New Millennium

Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, March, 2005

Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco and Desiree Baolian Qin-Hilliard (Eds.), Globalization: Culture and Education in the New Millennium. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004. $50.00 hardcover, $19.95 papercover.

Although the concept of globalization in has long been dominated by economic considerations, the non-economic dimensions of current international processes are increasingly being recognized. Today, a substantial literature has been published on the way global interdependence in the fields of politics, culture, communications, social welfare and demography is reshaping the modern world. This literature has dealt, for example, with the growth of civil society institutions, political cooperation, transnational social policy and population movements, and it has enriched social science knowledge of contemporary global dynamics.

However, as the editors of this book point out, the burgeoning literature on globalization has paid very little attention to education even though children and young people are now experiencing the realities of globalization on a daily basis. It is imperative, they contend, that teachers, schools, administrators and policymakers incorporate a global perspective into the educational process so that the younger generation will be better prepared to deal with the realities of a increasingly integrated world. To promote this ideal, the editors have assembled an interesting collection of papers that address educational and related issues in a global context. The papers were originally presented at a seminar hosted by Harvard University and the Ross Institute. The book covers a range of interesting topics. It begins with a useful overview of the issues by the editors and notes the vital importance of educating children and young people to function in a globalizing world. It suggests some of the key steps that need to be taken to promote this goal. The subsequent chapters deal with topics as varied as the economics of global education, the inculcation of digital skills, the role of communication technologies, identity formation in the context of globalization and the responsiveness of education to global new realities.

Many of the chapters touch on issues of culture since it is clear that educational policies and programs cannot be divorced from cultural contexts. Two chapters focus particularly on cultural exchange and integration, and this is followed by an account of the way globalization is affecting people's self-identities. These are among the most readable and interesting chapters in the book. In a chapter on the cultural impact of globalization in Asia, James Watson provides a fascinating account of the dynamic flow of cultural exchange between the Asian and American youth. Although it is often assumed in the literature that globalization involves the export of American values and a noticeable tendency towards cultural homogenization, Watson reveals the extent to which cultural themes reverberate and create dynamic interactive systems that undermine unilateral tendencies. Similarly, Suarez-Orozco shows that processes of identity formation are both flexible and resilient and that simplistic interpretations about the loss of identity in the face of globalization are unfounded.

Although this book deals primarily with issues of education, it touches on many other aspect is of globalization of interest to social scientists. Social policy scholars and social workers will be particularly interested in the many issues it raises. By addressing questions of education and culture in a global context, the authors make an important contribution. There is much in this fascinating and important book that is informative and challenging.