This open access book takes a critical and international perspective to the mainstreaming of the Global Citizenship Concept and analyses the key issues regarding global citizenship education across the world. In that respect, it addresses a pressing need to provide further conceptual input and to open global citizenship agendas to diversity and indigeneity. Social and political changes brought by globalisation, migration and technological advances of the 21st century have generated a rise in the popularity of the utopian and philosophical idea of global citizenship. In response to the challenges of today’s globalised and interconnected world, such as inequality, human rights violations and poverty, global citizenship education has been invoked as a means of preparing youth for an inclusive and sustainable world. In recent years, the development of global citizenship education and the building of students’ global citizenship competencies have become a focal point in global agendas for education, international educational assessments and international organisations. However, the concept of global citizenship education still remains highly contested and subject to multiple interpretations, and its operationalisation in national educational policies proves to be challenging. This volume aims to contribute to the debate, question the relevancy of global citizenship education’s policy objectives and to enhance understanding of local perspectives, ideologies, conceptions and issues related to citizenship education on a local, national and global level. To this end, the book provides a comprehensive and geographically based overview of the challenges citizenship education faces in a rapidly changing global world through the lens of diversity and inclusiveness.

Across the globe citizenship education is high on the reform agendas of policy makers and educators. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the entry of former Soviet bloc states into the European Union, the fragmentation of the former Yugoslavia, the major population movements from poor to rich countries, and the increased threats of international terrorism and civil wars in many states have all added to the need to provide up-dated and reflective approaches to citizenship education. Within nation states, the impact of globalisation on social, economic and political structures has caused power shifts across and within international borders demanding greater citizenship awareness and participation. The effect of these changes and the practice and needs of citizenship are profoundly affected by the distinctive particulars of the places in which they occur. This is an essential ingredient in any understanding of what is happening and of any program addressing the resulting citizenship challenges. Too often, citizenship education has been perceived simply as a matter for schools. In this book, the discussion is extended to embrace post-school education. It is acknowledged that the educa