International English language schools in the Global South(s): A promise for cosmopolitan nationalism within western cultural agendas?

‘Cosmopolitan nationalism’ may be employed by international English language schools (IELS) as an ideology to create representations that simultaneously account for local/national agendas and support cosmopolitan understandings and practices. A fundamental factor for IELS’ popularity is their ability to mobilize themselves within students’ and parents’ minds as a means for transcending the national/local to reflect the international, the global and the cosmopolitan. This vision derives its legitimacy from contrasting the local (which implies traditionalism, conformity and conservatism) with secularism, modernity and status-bearing significance sustained by American and/or British culture(s) and the perks of their people. Using email interviews with parents and students of the American Language Center (ALC) in Morocco, this article contributes three main conclusions. First, ‘cosmopolitan nationalism’ may blur the western dominance in postcolonial spheres under the guise of glocality. Second, ‘cosmopolitan nationalism’ should be understood and operationalized as an analytical approach as well as an ideology. This includes, for instance, examining ‘cosmopolitan nationalism’ as an ideology used by international schools to reconcile the agendas of neo-nationalism and cosmopolitanism/globalization. Third, presenting cosmopolitanism and nationalism in binary terms may obfuscate the operation of these ideologies within a complex interweaving of rationales, factors and objectives. Copyright © 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.