Neo-conservative globalism and the internationalisation of education : insights from the trans-national mobility of Young Edward Said

In this article Said's (1999) autobiography, his strategically constructed contextualisation of his youthful world, is read for possibilities for interrupting the confrontational model for international education promoted under neo-conservative globalism. As a work of active interpretation this article explores the international education of Said, the life he chooses to publicly display in his autobiography. This includes the Arab world where he was born and spent the early years of his international education (1941-51) as well as his life in the USA where he also went to school and university. Throughout his life Said took part in the US/America and Arab Palestinian cultures which neo-conservative globalism promotes as being 'at odds with each other', viewed as mutually exclusive, presented in terms of Self versus the Other (GhazouI1992:158).