Globalization/s: Reproduction and resistance in the internationalization of higher education

Abstract

Internationalization of higher education has become a significant feature of the Canadian educational landscape. Considered to be a product of and response to globalization, internationalization is being critiqued for having an economic orientation. This paper will begin with a brief overview of internationalization research in Canada, and the main focus is a conceptual discussion prompted by the relationship between internationalization and globalization. Informed by sociological and cultural studies’ accounts of the multiple dimensions of globalization, I argue that an uncritical pursuit of internationalization can result in a reproduction of the economic dimensions of globalization, and yet resistance to commodification can be found in other dimensions of globalization that offer useful theoretical bases for both research and practice in Canadian internationalization.

Keywords: internationalization of higher education, globalization, international education