Crafting Globalization: A Bourdieusian Historical Approach to Studying International Organizations and Global Governance in Education

Over the course of the 20th century, international organizations have gained increasing influence in shaping a wide array of policies globally. In the field of education, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Bank, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have been particularly active. In recent decades the OECD has taken up a towering position in the shaping of education globally.
The aim of this chapter is to explore the potential of applying Bourdieu’s relational sociological perspectives – particularly the concepts of field, capital, and state crafting – to the study of the governance mechanisms of international organizations, exemplified by the OECD’s work in education. Bourdieu and Wacquant’s concept of the state in general and their concept of state crafting in particular lies at the heart of this chapter. However, the purpose of the chapter is not to understand the workings of the state; rather, it is to take Bourdieu and Wacquant’s theoretical framework about the state to uncharted territory, namely, the crafting of globalization understood as constant interaction and exchange between fields at the global, national, and local levels.