The art of being global: rearticulations of global citizenship from International Baccalaureate students in southern China

This article explores how students at International Baccalaureate schools in southern China rearticulate ideals of global citizenship. Although global citizenship education is widely promoted within international agendas, it has been criticised for reflecting Western-centric and neoliberal biases. The International Baccalaureate's implementation of international education has attracted similar criticism. Taking a different approach, this study considers how students themselves understand, practise, and imagine their futures as global citizens. Drawing on interviews (n = 50) with International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme students at five international schools in Hong Kong, Macao, and Guangdong, three heuristic rearticulations are identified: ‘self-professed global citizens', ‘globally minded citizens', and ‘globally floating citizens'. The core argument is that academic critiques of global citizenship agendas need to be distinguished from the perspectives of these students, who are capable of offering alternative, critical, and varied conceptions of what it means to be a global citizen. Nevertheless, a persistent tension remains: these students’ conceptions of global citizenship can be viewed as part of an elite culture, deeply intertwined with their privileged educational backgrounds and opportunities.