A wide range of studies in sociology consider the theorisation of Bauman in exploring lived experiences and future imaginations of young people in the globalised society. Based on the literature review and empirical data, this chapter establishes the relevance of Bauman’s key arguments in theorising young Bangladeshi students’ mobility in pursuing higher education in Australia. However, the question of politics of knowledge raised by Raewyn Connell is relevant to the process of investigation of the lived and imagined mobilities of the Southern (Bangladeshi) students within the theoretical lens of the Northern theorist (Bauman). In this context, the chapter considers Appadurai, a theorist from the global South. In this process, this chapter unpacks the relationship between Bauman and Appadurai in key ideas related to globalised mobility. Thus, it contributes to Connell’s proposed democratic purposes of social science on a world scale by setting up an example of global sociology of education by illustrating the relationship in theories between the global North and South.
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Young students’ international mobility for higher education and their construction as global citizens through this education is the focus of a burgeoning competitive global education market. The policies and practices of many universities in Western countries claim to develop students as critical moral citizens in an uncertain globalised world. However, for many universities, these policies and practices are also rooted in neoliberal ideologies, creating economic and moral tensions for the young students who are their subjects (Islam, 2019, 2021, 2022c, 2022a, 2022b). In recent years, Bangladeshi students’ international mobility for higher education has been growing, evidenced by the tripled number of outbound student mobility in 2013 compared with 7,900 in 2000 (Monitor, 2017). Moreover, the stability in economic growth, inflation and public debt and growing inflow of remittance indicates the projected number of middle and affluent consumers, a total of about 34 million by 2025 in Bangladesh that, will exceed many other Asian markets (Zarif et al., 2015). In 2009, among the favourite destinations for Bangladeshis, Australia was the third with 2380 tertiary students (Edwards, 2011). Similarly, the number of inbound Bangladeshi mobile students in Australia was 4652 in 2016 (UIS, 2018). According to the projection (Banks et al., 2007) done through annual compound growth from 2005 to 2025, worldwide 31,737 Bangladeshi students will be globally mobile for higher education, while 8,704 students will set their destination in Australia in 2025. Further, Bangladesh will be the seventh-largest sending country for the Australian education market. However, the actual number of internationally mobile Bangladeshi students exceeded in 2017 and became nearly double (60,390) (UIS, 2018) which is supposed to be 31,737 in 2025 in the projection by Banks, Olsen, and Pearce (2007).
In this context, this chapter discusses Zygmunt Bauman’s contribution to exploring international students’ lived experiences in the host country and the future imaginations of young people in the globalised society. It also addresses the question of politics of knowledge raised by Raewyn Connel (2011) in investigating the lived and imagined mobilities of the Southern international students within the theoretical lens of the Northern theorist (Bauman). In this context, the chapter considers Arjun Appadurai, a theorist from the global South, in theorising Southern students’ globalised mobility experiences. Thus, it unpacks the relationship between Bauman and Appadurai in key ideas related to globalisation and mobility and contributes to Connell’s proposed democratic purposes of social science on a world scale by setting up an example of global sociology of education by illustrating the relationship in theories between the global North and South.