In this article we discuss the current nature and circumstances of cosmopolitanism and what it means to the field of adolescent literacy. Drawing on contemporary scholarship, cosmopolitanism is understood as: 1) the local experience or condition of globalization, what has been called ‘internal globalization,’ and, 2) as a disposition or sensibility that ensures productive and peaceful relations in light of globalization or any circumstance that creates dynamic and culturally diverse contexts. From a critical review of the key documents in the field, we argue that for many adolescents their lives and literacies now, and especially in the future, will be lived out in the interface of the local and global. In what might be described as a cosmopolitan age we discuss what that means for the field of adolescent literacy. In critical review of the work done under the rubric of adolescent literacy, it was evident the field has been carefully documenting the terrain of adolescent literacies, and leading the charge for reform in policy and practice. However, there is a need to reconfigure and expand the concepts, precepts and practices that have come to name adolescent literacy in order to ensure that students are well served by the field and by their literacy education. Cet article discute la nature et les circonstances du concept de cosmopolitisme et ce qu’il signifie dans le domaine de la littératie des adolescents. Du point de vue du savoir actuel, ce concept définit (1) l’expérience ou la condition locale de globalisation, ce qui est connu sous le terme de « globalisation interne » et (2) la disposition ou sensibilité qui assure des relations productives et pacifiques dans un contexte global ou toutes circonstances qui créent des contextes culturellement dynamiques et différents. En nous basant sur une révision critique des documents clés, nous argumentons que les vies et les littératies actuelles et futures de beaucoup d’adolescents seront vécues dans une interface entre un monde tout aussi local que global. Nous discuterons ce que ce monde peut représenter dans le domaine de la littératie adolescente dans l’ère cosmopolite. En révisant cette littératie de façon critique, il est facile de s’apercevoir du nombre croissant de publications et de son importance dans la réforme de politiques et de pratiques de terrain. Il est cependant tout à fait nécessaire de reconfigurer et de développer ces concepts, préceptes et pratiques afin d’assurer leur adéquation dans le domaine et l’éducation en littératie des adolescents.

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The purpose of this critical ethnography was to investigate the experiences of teachers and students when literacy instruction was framed within human rights education. Informed by cosmopolitan and critical socio-cultural theory incorporating Freirean concepts of critical literacy and praxis, this study highlights the experiences of two servant leader interns (teachers) and sixteen scholars (students) participating in human rights education sessions within the context of a Children's Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom School. Data sources included semi-structured and informal interviews, scholar and intern artifacts including multimedia projects, and recorded classroom discussions. Data were analyzed utilizing Michel Foucault's concept of "regime of truth" in order to examine how the CDF Freedom School and Human Rights Education articulated notions of freedom, knowledge, rights and power as a counter-narrative to the dominant discourse in literacy education. The findings indicate that while both discourses sought to empower students through literacy and in learning of their rights, the particular naming of literacy, identity and rights within each were constraining as well as liberating for the participating scholars. A key implication of this study is the need for a cosmopolitan critical literacy in both discourses that recognizes the need for global and local literacies, identities and rights for 21 st century adolescents.

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