Global citizenship education overlooked: Curriculum policies and progressive nationalism

Abstract Over the last few years, left-wing governments in anglophone countries, from the United States to Aotearoa New Zealand, have increasingly embraced what could be termed progressive nationalism . This political project rhetorically combines progressive ideals, such as inclusion, identity politics and wellbeing, with the exaltation of a national identity. Perhaps shadowed by the global emergence of national/authoritarian populisms, this phenomenon has gone largely unnoticed by global citizenship scholars. In this article, the author first develops the concept of progressive nationalism in New Zealand. After considering the historical context and revisiting the role of school curricula in the spread of globalist/nationalist ideologies, the article explores the imprint of progressive nationalism in the recent curriculum policies of New Zealand’s former Labour Government (2017–2023). The historical and ideological analysis of the “curriculum struggles” associated with these policies reveals a clear move towards the local/national at the expense of the global. It also identifies a rhetorical commitment to decolonisation and youth wellbeing, spuriously dissociated from the processes of globalisation and capitalism. The article concludes with a reflection on the implications of progressive nationalism for critical global citizenship education.