ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the complex theoretical frameworks associated with the globalization processes. It proposes an analysis from the political sociology of education based on the dialectics of the global and the local, and the implications for different stakeholders. The chapter explores the dichotomy between locals and cosmopolitans in the context of globalization's processes in the world system. Sociological studies of role theory have for a long time considered the tension between cosmopolitans and locals crucial for role differentiation and identity formation. One of the principles connected with global citizenship education is its cosmopolitan nature, which relates to a formal model of democracy. Cosmopolitan democracy entails "a model of political organization in which citizens, wherever they are located in the world, have a voice, input, and political representation in international affairs, in parallel with and independent of their own governments".
