Globalization, Citizenship Education, and International Events: 2010 Shanghai World Exposition Education in China

Abstract

Globalization has extended the scope of competition among nations and cities from economy, politics, and cultures to hosting international events. Despite numerous studies on the impact of mega sporting events (particularly the Olympic Games) on nation/city building and national/local identities, research on how hosting international, non-sporting events, such as the World Exposition, affects people’s various identities is rare and warrants attention. With reference to the 2010 Shanghai World Exposition (SWE), this study investigates why China hosted this event, and how China turned such hosting into a project of citizenship education. The study also examines how the project affected students’ perceptions of global, national, and local citizenships; for this, in late 2010s, the study administered a questionnaire survey to over 900 students in grades 7-9 and conducted individual interviews with about 30 students and teachers from three of Shanghai’s secondary schools. The findings indicate that (a) China used hosting the World Exposition as both an international and national signal of its rejuvenation and rise as a world player, and as a useful resource to socialize students into state-prescribed and event-specific citizenship education; (b) such hosting differently shaped cognitive and affective domains of students’ local, national, and global identities; and (c) students’ direct participation in the World Exposition by visiting its site heightened their sense of identification and attachment to their city, nation, and the world.