Paper short abstract

This paper explores the cosmopolitan imaginaries within the context of Vietnam’s internationalisation of higher education. The study examines lecturers' perceptions at public universities and their visions of global citizenship within the framework of international integration.

Paper long abstract

This paper explores the cosmopolitan imaginaries within the context of Vietnam’s internationalisation of higher education. The study examines lecturers' perceptions at public universities and their visions of global citizenship within the framework of international integration. Following Delanty’s (2006, 2009) approach, cosmopolitan imagination is investigated to understand global openness rather than the Western model of cosmopolitan universalism. Additionally, I am interested in neoliberal imaginaries that continue to frame cosmopolitanism in economic terms (Rizvi, 2009). It shows that internationalisation in Vietnam has become commercialised, with international programmes or degrees imported from English-speaking countries, often considered an important step towards integrating students into global citizenship communities. The research reveals the dominance of a cosmopolitan vision aligned with the state-led, formal discourse on human capital for global competitiveness and efficiency, intensified by its vision of modernisation and industrialisation. There are also tensions associated with this vision, which are disproportionately internalised by individuals, exacerbating existing disparities based on gender, economic status, education, and urban/rural backgrounds.