"There Is an Identity Crisis": At the Intersections of Globalization, Postcolonialism, and Education in 21st-Century India

• In Event: Decolonizing Curriculum: Textbooks, Citizenship Education, and Racialized Pedagogy in Transnational Contexts

Abstract

Postcolonialism and globalization are intertwined as are colonizer and colonized in their ambivalent relationship (Fanon, 1952/1967; Gandhi, 1998). While the postcolonial situation is not identical across nations, transnational forms of colonial oppression are controlled by the spread of Westernized imperialism through the globalization of labor and financial markets and new technologies (Alexander & Mohanty, 1997; Prashad, 2006). Such forces also shape educational discourses, policies, and practices in transnational contexts. This paper draws on theoretical analyses as well as data from a 2014-15 Fulbright-funded qualitative study on globalization and education in 21st-century India to consider implications in terms of identity, culture, and representation as well as possibilities for sustaining efforts to enhance equity and justice an increasingly interdependent world.

Author

• Nina Asher, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities