This paper uses Bourdieu to develop theorizing about policy processes in education and to extend the policy cycle approach in a time of globalization. Use is made of Bourdieu's concept of social field and the argument is sustained that in the context of globalization the field of educational policy has reduced autonomy, with enhanced cross-field effects in educational policy production, particularly from the fields of the economy and journalism. Given the social rather than geographical character of Bourdieu's concept of social fields, it is also argued that the concept can be, and indeed has to be, stretched beyond the nation to take account of the emergent global policy field in education. Utilizing Bourdieu's late work on the globalization of the economy through neo-liberal politics, we argue that a non-reified account of the emergent global educational policy field can be provided. This paper begins from the assumption that Bourdieu?s theorizing and his central concepts of field, habitus, capitals, strategy and so on can be productively utilized in policy sociology in education. The paper argues that Bourdieu can help to develop theorizing and research in the field, particularly in relation to taking account of the effects of globalization on policy processes in education.