Internationalism

Exerpt from Sanderson, G. (2005). [|'Internationalisation' and related terms]. Unpublished paper.

Whilst used less frequently than ‘internationalisation’, the words ‘internationalism’ and ‘internationalist’ are occasionally employed in the higher education literature. A definition of ‘internationalism’ is "the view that the nations of the world should co-operate politically, economically, culturally, etc (sic) and work towards greater mutual understanding" (Manser and Thomson 1995, p. 672). This is a normative claim. Quiggan (2003) provided a good sense of how internationalism related to globalisation:

Internationalism is not a political movement like social democracy or neoliberalism, nor is it a central term in a body of argument, like globalisation. Rather, it is a general aspiration (…) As opposed to globalism, internationalism accepts the reality and legitimacy of national governments. This legitimacy arises in part from acceptance of the idea of the nation-state, that particular groups of people (nations) are bound together by ties of common history and language, and are natural units of governments.

In a traditional sense, then, ‘internationalism’ contains a functional and even a moral imperative. This is evident in the work of Appadurai (1997) who used ‘internationalism’ to describe the internationalisation of research in higher education. He promoted the "spirit of internationalism" and "critical internationalism" as ethical approaches to the "deparochialization of the research ethic" from a dominant Western view to a shared worldview (pp. 55-60). In the same manner, Hatakenaka (2004) suggested that "developed countries have traditionally supported internationalism principally to enhance mutual understanding among different cultures" (p. 4). Johnson (1996) spoke of academic communities worldwide as having "a certain internationalism" in the sense of being open to and accepting of other cultures and ideas (p. 84). For Jones (1998), too, ‘internationalism’ had a moral basis. He stated that internationalism had an "intrinsically democratic foundation (and) looks to a world ordered by structures supportive of that functionalism which is embedded in accountability" (p. 143). Jones (1998) contrasted the ideal of internationalism against "unfettered capitalism" which he believed was driving globalisation processes (p. 143). Such a view portrays internationalism as inherently good and globalisation as potentially bad. However, the idea of globalisation itself is not necessarily a negative thing. It is the management of the processes and their outcomes that are contentious. In any case, internationalism, too, may be contorted by hegemonic forces, as evidenced by Scott’s (1998) view of "the old internationalism, still dysfunctionally dominated by the West" (cited in de Wit 2002, p. 17).

A definition of ‘internationalist’ is "a person who favours internationalism" (Manser & Thomson 1995, p. 672). Singh (2002) spoke of the "new internationalist worker, citizen and learner" as someone who is supported by a university education based on innovative approaches to teaching and learning to meet the demands of the global economy (p. 1). For Cambridge and Thompson (2004), "internationalist international education" appealed to the standard definition of internationalism given above and was contrasted against "globalist international education" which was underwritten by free market values (p. 161). More commonplace these days, although not exclusively, however, is the association of ‘internationalist’ with radical politics or journalism, for example, the New Internationalist, the Maoist Internationalist Movement, and the Internationalist Group: League for the Fourth International.

References:

Appadurai, A. (1997). The research ethic and the spirit of internationalism. //Items: Social Science Research Council, 51//(4, part 1), 55-60.

Cambridge, J., & Thompson, J. (2004). Internationalism and globalization as contexts for international education. Compare, 34(2), 161-175.

de Wit, H. (2002). Internationalization of higher education in the United States of America and Europe: a historical, comparative, and conceptual analysis. Westport: Greenwood Press.

Johnson, L. (1996). Being an effective academic. Oxford: The Oxford Centre for Staff Development.

Jones, P. (1998). Globalisation and internationalism: democratic prospects for world education. Comparative Education, 34(2), 143-155.

Manser, M., & Thomson, M. (Eds.). (1995). //Chambers combined dictionary thesaurus//. Edinburgh: Chambers.

Quiggan, J. (2003). //Word for Wednesday: Internationalism defined//. Retrieved 5 July, 2004, from http://johnquiggin.com/index.php/archives/2003/04/02/word-for-wednesday-internationalism-definition/

Singh, M. (2002, 6-8 December). Aligning university curricula to the global economy: Making opportunities for new teaching/learning through the internationalisation of education. Paper presented at the 2002 Australian and New Zealand Comparative and International Education Society conference (Internationalizing Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Critical Reflections, Critical Times), Armidale.