Deglobalization and Comparative and International Education

Around 2000, scholars of Comparative and International Education foregrounded the notion or trend of globalization, responding to Globalization 3.0 which had become a major force in the world, in general, and in education, in particular. This trend has done much to increase participation in education. A beneficial impact of this trend on the scholarly field of Comparative and International Education is not difficult to demonstrate. Since around 2015, however, a counter-trend of deglobalization can be detected. This chapter explains this trend and its features. It is argued that this trend and its attendant features pose a risk not only for much of the kind of education expansion and reform that have taken place in the world in the past 35 years but also for much of what the scholarly community of Comparative and International Education stand for and hold dear. Thus far, this trend of deglobalization has largely escaped the attention of scholars in the field. Because of its many adverse impacts on education, and because it undermines much of what Comparative and International Education scholars have always regarded as sacrosanct regarding the mission and ideals of the field, a serious engagement with deglobalization and its impact on education is called for.