Edgar Morin’s Contribution to Global Citizenship Education

Abstract

This chapter examines the contribution of Edgar Morin’s complex thought to global citizenship education (GCE) and aims to promote it within the English-speaking academic community, where his work remains less widely integrated despite its profound implications for education. It argues that the modern crisis of education stems not only from fragmentation but from deeper epistemological limitations—our inherited ways of thinking that obscure the relational, evolving, and uncertain nature of knowledge. Morin challenges deterministic and reductionist perspectives, emphasizing the need for an education that acknowledges complexity, embraces contradiction, and fosters a planetary consciousness. Given the increasing global interconnectedness and the urgent challenges of our time, Morin’s perspective provides a crucial foundation for rethinking GCE beyond traditional curricular reforms. While some Latin American educational frameworks have begun to incorporate complexity-based approaches, systemic constraints and institutional inertia continue to hinder widespread adoption. This chapter highlights the tensions between innovation and traditional paradigms, illustrating how complexity thinking offers both a critique of existing structures and a pathway towards more dynamic, ethical, and adaptive models of education. Ultimately, it argues that a deeper engagement with Morin’s work could significantly enrich GCE by fostering a more integrative and reflexive educational paradigm.