The focus of this contribution is on global ethics in higher education, particularly in processes of internationalisation: how trans-national subjects, relations and ideals are constituted and framed, their historicity, political economy, and implications for educational practice and research in higher education. The literature on the internationalization of higher education presents two major influences: market oriented discourses (i.e. related to fostering economic performance and competitiveness) and humanitarian discourses (i.e. related to altruistic or charitable concerns for enhancing the quality of life of disadvantaged communities) (see for example Matthews and Sidhu 2005, Rhoads and Szelényi 2010, Khoo 2011, Altbach 2011). Recent literature also indicates that concepts associated with "global citizenship“ (ideas of social responsibility, mobility, interculturality and cosmopolitanism) expressed in higher education mission statements, policies, curriculum, and international initiatives (e.g. international cooperation, study abroad and service learning schemes) have come to combine and embody both market and humanitarian influences (see for example Jefferess 2008, Kelly 2000, Pashby 2009, Khoo 2011, Andreotti et al 2010, Rhoads and Szelényi 2010). The paper discusses meta-narratives of internationalization in a critical perspective and suggests an internationalization in higher education, where the ethical dimensions of dissent, intelligibility and solidarity play a role for internationalism in higher education.