Global citizenship education: The case of Equipo Pueblo’s Citizen Diplomacy Program in Mexico

Abstract

Globalization processes create the need to rethink how citizens participate in complex and interdependent societies. The purpose of this article is to understand how education-related non-governmental organizations in Americas are becoming increasingly transnational in a globalized world through the experience of Mexican non-governmental organization Equipo Pueblo. Following this purpose, I seek to contribute to the study of international education facing non-governmental organizations through activism involved in citizenship education. I argue that non-governmental organizations are potential agents for ordinary citizens to promote non-formal education by participation on global public arenas becoming an important non-formal learning experience beyond schools, which allows those citizens to acquire the necessary skills for effective participation in globalized policy processes. To give empirical evidence to my research, I analyze Equipo Pueblo’s Citizen Diplomacy Program and its influence repertoire that enable citizens’ participation in public spaces, as example of non-formal citizenship education in the context of global politics.