Transnational Competence: A Transformative Tool? A Comparison of German and Irish Political Trade Union Education Programs

In the literature on cross-border labor action, labor education is seen as an important factor to improving it. This article therefore first reconstructs an innovative pedagogic concept, transformative Transnational Competence, to advance transnational labor education and action. Although initially developed for multinational firms and international organizations, this pedagogical concept is promising for labor, as it also focuses on emotional issues that are central to collective action. Subsequently, we use our reconstructed concept as a yardstick to assess labor education programs of public and private sector unions in Ireland and Germany. Our study shows that all unions face similar difficulties leading to rather little attention to transnational labor education, regardless of the very different labor relations landscapes in which they are operating. Hence, unions’ difficulties in relation to transnational labor education and action cannot be due to distinct national or sectorial factors, such as labor relations systems and different amounts of resources allocated to labor education. Instead, transnational labor education is facing challenges that are common in all cases, notably the tension between utilitarian and emancipatory orientations of union leaders, educators, and members involved in labor education programs.

Online Social Networking and Transnational-Competence Development Among International Students from Japan

Social media has become the window to the world near and far for international students. Apart from socializing and connecting with friends, what educational outcomes can be attributed to social networking sites (SNS)? This study examines the possibility that intercultural interactions on SNS can serve as a means of developing the transnational competence required for effective participation in an interconnected world. In this exploratory study, Japanese students studying in the United States participated in a mixed method study involving (1) a structured questionnaire about their perceived empowerment benefits of frequenting global SNS and (2) semi-structured interviews about the nature of these intercultural interactions on SNS. The implications of Facebook use for transnational-competence development are explored.

Epilogue

The chapters in this book demonstrate how transnational connections in Africa often appear as a source of ambiguity in formations that otherwise are ideologically perceived as bounded, autonomous entities. The experience of the transnational is often fraught with sentiments, ranging from fear to fascination, from anxiety to hope and aspiration. Given this dynamic of both anxiety about and eagerness for engaging in transnational relations, the Epilogue argues that there is a socially felt need among religious groups in many African societies for developing a transnational competence, especially in the sensitive field of HIV/AIDS, in order to successfully manage engagement with transnational relations and connections. This is grounded in the experience that, on the one hand, transnational connections have indeed allowed local people, organisations and institutions to make big steps forward in using religious linkages in the fight against AIDS and in changing notions of sexuality. Yet, on the other hand, while these connections are often being celebrated locally, the Epilogue argues that the enormous strains transnational relations can create for the local communities and organisations to live up to the expectations of external partners, donors and policies, should not be overlooked.