This study develops a critical understanding of how democracy and neoliberalism shape community college (CC) internationalization. CCs are sites of ideological struggle as they navigate and balance their democratic values of access with societal pressures to economically rationalize their existence. Within the growing movement of CC internationalization, scholars have studied practice and planning. However, researchers have yet to examine the underlying logics. Examining logics can reveal the cultural values and forces shaping practice and the potential perpetuation of social wrongdoings. Using democratic and neoliberal institutional logics as my theoretical framework and the sociocognitive approach to critical discourse analysis, I analyzed publicly available CC internationalization plans and related texts, guided by the following research questions: 1) what are the democratic and neoliberal discourse themes in CC internationalization plans and related discourse, 2) what democratic and neoliberal logics underly these themes, 3) how do plan, internal, and external discourse participants advance these themes, and 4) who is excluded and who is othered in CC internationalization discourse? Shaped by logics of opportunity and empowerment, the democratic discourse themes centered on making global education more accessible and preparing students for global citizenship. Shaped by logics of production and competition, the neoliberal discourse theme emphasized leveraging internationalization for institutional effectiveness. Within the democratic and neoliberal themes, participants advanced the discourses in similar ways. Powerful external groups set expectations for college leaders while plan participants directed operations through institutional goals and strategic initiatives. Internal participants, such as global education staff, executed or operationalized institutional directives. Using a critical lens, my analysis also revealed that discourse participants believed global education was intended for domestic students-excluding international students. In addition, discourse participants conceptualized and othered international students as tools for intercultural competency training. Lastly, discourse participants transformed the domestic student into that of the competent and competitive global worker/workforce-ensuring national competitiveness and U.S. economic prosperity. This study affirms the heavy presence of neoliberal logic in CC internationalization and the neoliberalization of democratic aims. This study offers recommendations for CC leaders, global/international education practitioners, and scholars to challenge neoliberalism and advance democracy in internationalization.
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