World Scouting: Educating for Global Citizenship

Many works have been written on scouting worldwide, but most of them were centered in a particular country or moment of history. This book, based on the first existing academic research on world scouting, explains in a very comprehensible way the main characteristics of world (boy and girl) Scouting, the largest youth movement in the planet, existing in more than 165 countries of the five continents with more than 30 million young people worldwide. Using new data and storytelling, the work covers the main elements that distinguish the scout movement over the world, and explains its origin, evolution, operating system, and the soundness of its values.

Furthermore, besides nature and woodcraft, the book uses Scouting as an unexpected lens through which to analyze many social issues of our world, like the ones related with identity and citizenship education. As an accommodator of multiple identities, scouting has dealt with patriotism, belonging, immigration, racism, gender, religion, fanaticism, militarism, and peace. And when examining its role as an educational agent, we find personal autonomy, critical thinking, values of coexistence, participation, leadership, and human rights, but also debate on political involvement, geopolitics, sexual orientation, and culture war.