ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the main arguments and concepts that background the chapters in this volume. It first describes the notion of “global education effects” that this volume suggests: the impacts of “global education” initiatives on institutional and individual practices and perceptions. Second, the chapter introduces the discussions on the dynamics of border construction, including those around the notions of the global and the national and in discussions on education—in particular, global education, study abroad, and service learning. Third, the chapter introduces the contexts of this volume—Japan—and discusses its border politics and factors affecting it. These factors, though specific to Japan, are shared by various other countries and thus Japan's case in this volume helps showcase issues that are experienced around the world. These factors include a shrinking young workforce and the need to supplement it often through immigration, xenophobia, the increased existence of mixed-background individuals and debates over their national belonging, and uneven valorization of the “global flow” of people and things. The overlaps, ambiguity, and strategic slippage regarding the notions of study abroad students, foreign workers, immigrants, and human resources are also discussed. Finally, this chapter introduces and connects each chapter to the underlying themes of this volume: global education effects on border politics and identification practices.
