We are pleased to present this issue of TSR with its focus topic “Transnational Education.” Educational systems have always had close links to the nation state; however, they are also increasingly being influenced, shaped and changed by transnational actors and processes. Despite this, and even though they have high relevance for social work practice and theory, educational systems and educational pathways have not been systematically taken into account in migration and transnational studies or in social work research. The TSR focus topic “Transnational Education” includes four papers that discuss how teaching and learning are provided across borders. Thereby this issue gives an insight into the providers, environments and practices in the field and seeks to understand the different actors involved. More specifically, in her theoretical paper Christel Adick introduces definitions, defines research areas and discusses the question of how transnational education can be conceptualized analytically in schools, universities, and beyond. Dominik Herzner provides historical insight into the development of German schools abroad as places of encounter and exchange between different cultures. Alice Blum and Dorothee Schäfer focus their empirical article on transnational education in individual practices by highlighting volunteer work in southeast Africa. Voluntarism is considered as a space of intercultural and transnational learning opportunities. The authors use a power- and difference-sensitive analytical framework and a multi-sited ethnography to identify racist neo-colonial practices. Finally, Javier A. Carnicer provides a case study of a transnational family and their educational trajectories by using empirical data generated using the genealogical method. By analyzing the social network of a transnational family between Brazil and Germany, he explores how educational opportunities influence the desire for migration.
We would also like to draw your attention to the two general articles. Anne-Kathrin Will discusses the transnational interlacements of statistical categories in marking natio-ethnic-cultural “others” in Germany, while Martin Seeliger discusses whether international resistance against neoliberal globalization can transform into a transnational countermovement, a concept initially developed by Karl Polanyi. Book reviews complete the issue.
We are pleased to announce that the forthcoming issue of TSR will focus on the topic of “Youth and Mobility.”
We wish you an inspiring reading.
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Cornelia Schweppe