Global Citizenship Initiative: UNESCO education policies through the prism of identity studies

Abstract

For many decades since the establishment of UNESCO, the organization has promoted and defended the idea of Global education. One of the reasons was the necessity to improve live standards, but also to create the global thinking and mutual understanding in order to avoid further conflicts and wars. The article examines the evolution of UNESCO Global citizenship initiative as an attempt to construct Global identity. Global identity falls under the identity studies object, as it is both a process and a state under construction with the aim at unifying peoples around the world. For the first three decades of UNESCO policies, it attempted to construct a positive identity, uniting people through shared values. The attempt lacked negative element and material elements to it. As a result, since 1970s, a new idea emerged that became the backbone of further UNESCO and UN policies — the idea of environmental threats opposing the humanity. These gradually evolved by 2000s into Sustainable Development Goals and Global Citizenship initiative. In recent years, UNESCO highlights new challenges — COVID Pandemics and spread of international conflicts, and the organization shifts its policy again in order to create unifying ground for peoples around the world amid these new challenges.