Citizenship and Identity

Horsley_Model_Citizen_Conference_Paper_2011

by Nicola Horsley

“TELEGORDO”: UN EJEMPLO DE CIUDADANÍAS COMUNICATIVAS A PARTIR DE LA MIRADA DE NIÑOS Y JÓVENES EN COLOMBIA

by Camilo Andres Tamayo Gomez

Para entender la relación entre los procesos comunicativos, los conceptos de ciudadanía y el campo de los derechos... more Para entender la relación entre los procesos comunicativos, los conceptos de ciudadanía y el campo de los derechos humanos, es necesario analizar tres campos separadamente: el
campo de la comunicación política, el campo de la comunicación social y el campo de la comunicación cultural. Los investigadores sociales han desarrollado en los últimos años
diferentes aproximaciones a estos campos de forma separada, lo que deja como resultado la falta de comprensión de estos tres campos de manera interconectada entre sí. Por tal razón,
este documento presentará el concepto teórico de ciudadanía comunicativa para crear una aproximación más comprensiva e interconectada a esta relación entre procesos comunicativos, ciudadanía y derechos, superando este vacío teórico, metodológico e interpretativo en las ciencias sociales contemporáneas.

A la luz de ésta teoría, se analizará un ejemplo concreto de producción televisiva infantil, realizada en Colombia, que pone en evidencia cómo las categorías propias de las ciudadanías comunicativas, descritas en la primera parte, cobran vida en un producto comunicacional concreto hecho por niños colombianos. Se trata de “Telegordo”, una serie
de TV construida colectivamente con niñas, niños y jóvenes en Belén de los Andaquíes, un municipio colombiano alejado de las lentes mediáticas y académicas, que a partir de la apuesta de entrar a los medios masivos, participa en la construcción del imaginario de una comunidad que quiere ser contada en contravía a los relatos que generalmente son hechos
para ellos.

The instrumentalization of the communicative citizenship field in the context of armed conflict: the case of the Association of Organized Women of Eastern Antioquia in Colombia (English Version)

by Camilo Andres Tamayo Gomez

In this paper I would like to present two important aspects of the PhD research project called “Communicative... more In this paper I would like to present two important aspects of the PhD research project called “Communicative citizenship, another dimension of rights” that is supported by The Centre for Research in the Social Sciences at The University of Huddersfield.

First, I would like to introduce the concept of communicative citizenship, some key issues, principal categories and dimensions, and how the creation of this field could overcome the gap with regards to the relationship between communication, citizenship and human rights.

Second, I will present preliminary results of one case study that shows how this model applies to a specific social, political and economic context and how this communicative citizenship field could work in different scales.

This paper aims at a preliminary analysis of the experience of the Association of Organized Women of Eastern Antioquia – AMOR – in Colombia, a collective of women victims in the Colombian armed conflict. It explores how this group uses socio-communicative resources in order to claim human rights in local and regional public spheres and examines the ways that these socio-communicative strategies affect categories of identity, recognition, power and visibility in this region.

There grows the neighbourhood’: Green citizenship, creativity and life politics on eco-TV

by Tania Lewis

Published in International Journal of Cultural Studies May 2012 vol. 15 no. 3

Anglo-Irish relations, elite Conservative rhetoric and citizenship identities

by Andrew Scott Crines

En los bordes de la nación: cultura regional y nuevas formas de ciudadanía en el Caribe Mexicano norte [Prolegómenos]

by Luis Alberto Velasco Ruiz

Democracy, individualism, & the civil-civic citizen: Young American professionals talk about community, politics & citizenship

by Paul Lachelier

This is my Ph.D. dissertation in sociology. For more info, contact me at sociopolifrance@hotmail.com.

Like all citizens of modern nations in a globalizing world, Americans are socially “entangled yet detached,” to adapt... more Like all citizens of modern nations in a globalizing world, Americans are socially “entangled yet detached,” to adapt political philosopher Michael Sandel’s phrasing. Yet as citizens of the lone “super-power,” the thoughts and actions of Americans, especially as voters, matter to the world perhaps now more than ever. 9/11, like global warming, confirms the inescapability of politics, yet there is evidence that young Americans are politically less engaged than their predecessors. Given these conditions and concern about the political engagement of young Americans, I conducted semi-structured interviews with thirty-five young American professionals (whose work, as professionals, inclines them somewhat more to political engagement) in a northeastern city to learn about the meanings they attach to politics, community and citizenship. I found that my interviewees generally upheld what I call a “civil-civic citizenship” which stresses politeness and charity, but eschews politics, especially partisan and collective politics. To the extent that my interviewees do support political activity, the good citizen to them is not an activist who pressures and persuades, but an independent, reflective voter who discusses issues in a balanced manner with those near. This contrasts quite sharply with earlier forms of citizenship in American history. I argue why this model is in certain ways politically disengaging, or signals disengagement, in important part because it upholds forms of individualism inimical to collective action. Then, drawing on my interviews and Alexis de Tocqueville’s conception of individualism, I argue that another form of individualism democracy has to fear is not selfish and isolated, but on the contrary, can be quite giving and social, though within the narrow, private compass of one’s intimates. That form I call “intimate individualism.” I conclude with, among other things, elements toward an ethic of political engagement to counter these forms of disengaging individualism.

The Civil Citizen

by Paul Lachelier

Published in the "eJournal of Public Affairs"

Considerable concern is focused nowadays on young Americans’ civic engagement.  “Civic engagement” is often used... more Considerable concern is focused nowadays on young Americans’ civic engagement.  “Civic engagement” is often used as a catch-all term to refer to a wide array of civic and political activities, but this term misses civil citizenship.  This article draws on interviews I conducted with thirty-five young American professionals to explore what they think constitutes a “good citizen.”  What emerges from their answers is less a political or civic citizen than a civil citizen whose polite individualism, proximate reach and facile, fleeting engagement may help explain younger Americans’ weaker political engagement.   

National plurality within single statehood in the European Union

by Carlos Closa

The New Muslim Religious Brokers in European Cities and Politics of Muslim Citizenship

by Konrad Pedziwiatr

Pędziwiatr, K. (2012). The New Muslim Religious Brokers in European Cities and Politics of Muslim Citizenship. COLLeGIUM: Studies Across Disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences, 11, 83-99.

On the basis of the research into active social citizenship amongst the new Muslim religious brokers in Brussels and... more On the basis of the research into active social citizenship amongst the new Muslim religious brokers in Brussels and London, this paper explores the transition from the politics of Muslim identity to the politics of Muslim citizenship, a major change in the public mobilisation of Islam in Belgium and Britain. It argues that this move has been closely linked with the development of civic consciousness among certain
segments of the Muslim populations in Europe and the construction of a new type of identity – ‘Muslim civicness’ - which is characterised by strong support for the
national projects, activism beyond Muslim symbolic boundaries, emphasis on the similar rights to other citizens and obligations vis-à-vis all the citizens regardless of their religious adherence.   

Transforming citizens? Green politics and ethical consumption on lifestyle television

by Tania Lewis

This is an electronic version of an article published in Continuum: Journal of Media &Cultural Studies (special issue on environmental sustainability) 2008, 22(2): 227-240.
The final version of the paper is available online at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10304310701864394#preview

Why scholars of minority rights in Asia should recognize the limits of Western models

by Michelle Miller

Published in Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 35, no.4, 2011

This article considers the relationship between ethnic and racial minority rights and citizenship in Asia. The most... more This article considers the relationship between ethnic and racial minority rights and citizenship in Asia. The most ethnically divided and populous region in the world, Asia is home to some of the most contrasting state responses to ethnic minority assertions of diversity and difference. Asia is also awash with wide-ranging claims by geographically-dispersed ethnic minorities to full and equal citizenship. In exploring the relationship between ethnic minority rights claims and citizenship in Asia, this article considers the relevance of certain core assumptions in Western-dominated citizenship theory to Asian experiences. The aim is to look beyond absolutist West-East and civic-ethnic bifurcations to consider more
constructive questions about what Asian and Western models might learn from one another in approaching minority citizenship issues.

Nation-freezing: images of the nation and the migrant in citizenship packages

by Semin Suvarierol

published in 'Nations and Nationalism', 2012

New nationalism differs from classical nationalism in terms of its content and focus. Whereas classical nationalism... more New nationalism differs from classical nationalism in terms of its content and focus. Whereas classical nationalism distinguishes itself from other nation-states in defining its national identity, new nationalism distinguishes the ‘native’ national identity from that of its current and prospective citizens of migrant origin. The terms of integration thus become conditions of membership in the national community. Citizenship and integration policies emerge as central arenas where the discourse of new nationalism unfolds. This study looks into the discourses of cultural citizenship by studying the content of the official ‘citizenship packages’ – materials designed to welcome newcomers and assist them in their integration – in three Western European countries: The Netherlands, France and the UK. What images are depicted of the nation-state and the migrant in citizenship packages, and (how) do these images freeze the nation?

Igniting Desires: Politicising Queer Female Subjectivities in Fire

by Senthorun Raj

Raj, S. (2012) ‘Igniting Desires: Politicising Queer Female Subjectivities in Fire’, Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific 28: 1-11.

Fire (1996), directed by Deepa Mehta, contests the notion that queer diasporic desire can only be read through... more Fire (1996), directed by Deepa Mehta, contests the notion that queer diasporic desire can only be read through nationalist, ethnocentric Orientalist lenses. This paper traces the way the film and its transnational reception gestures to the complexities of queer intimacy; the historical and geographical contingency of sexuality; and the fraught notion of what it means to be a ‘lesbian’. Articulating a queer female subject position in Indian diasporic popular culture is underscored as an epistemological and political challenge. As Gayatri Gopinath (2005) argues, either queer women are erased from a patriarchal nationalist rhetoric that refuses their existence, or they are colonised by a liberalist or neo-orientalist Western discourse of sexuality that seeks to codify their subjectivities through indexes of ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’. Radha and Sita, the protagonists of the film, explore the possibilities of queer friendship, pleasure and love within the domestic space. In contradistinction to what Edward Said (1978) terms an ‘Orientalist’ gaze, the ‘Eastern’ (or more specifically non-Western) home is not constructed as an anterior or repressive place, compared to a sexually ‘progressive’ West. Instead, the ‘home’ produces new potential for realising queer desire, even if it considered to be ‘peripheral’ to a broader heterosexual political structure. Responding to the discursive and political problematics of diasporic representation, my paper que(e)ries the ethnocentric tropes of public visibility and consumption that are used to understand or define sexuality for Western audiences. In doing so, I argue that queer diasporic readings of Fire undermine the assumptions of passivity, tradition and heterosexuality sutured to non-Western female bodies. However, rather than frame such non-normative desires as a public sexual identity, as considered ‘proper’ in the West, Radha and Sita evince the political possibilities for recognising queer female sexuality that is negotiated within the space of the home.

Limits to the Legitimacy Function of EU Citizenship: The Nationality of Member States

by Carlos Closa

Paper delivered at the Fourth Biennial International Conference of the European Community Studies Association, Charleston, South Carolina May 11-14 1995

This paper explores whether the citizenship of the Union may become an autonomous source for Union legitimacy by... more This paper explores whether the citizenship of the Union may become an autonomous source for Union legitimacy by focussing on two issues. Firstly, it seems that some Union citizenship rights, particularly the rights to freely move and reside within the EU, do establish legitimacy basis for the EU. That is, the praxis of such rights may create a substrate of acceptance of European Union. Political rights, though, are the essential citizenship right therefore it is necessary to determine to which extent the political participation afforded by ELcitizenship establishes a legitimacy channel autonomous from nationality. On the catalogue of rights included by the Treaty on European Union, the legitimacy deficit in the concept and implementing elements of political rights created by their reliance on nationality will be examined (II). Secondly, the difficulties to develop social rights or redistributive entitlements, on the other hand, mean that citizenship of the Union will not substitute the individuals perception of material belonging around nationality (III). In either case, it seems evident that the traditional attachement of citizenship (as a status of rights) to the idea of nation provides legitimacy grounds for the development of certain rights which constitute the essence of citizenship. If citizenship is built up as a set of rights without no reference to the community identity contained in the idea of nationality, there will be a lack of legitimacy to include certain rights. Anticipating the conclusion (IV), a concept of citizenship that goes further than the mere harmonization of certain secondary political rights seems to require the previous development of forms of pan-Union identity if it is to avoid legitimacy deficits. The reasoning will comence establishing a conceptual difference between citizenship and nation as two different ways of relating individuals to public power in their legitimacy function (I).

YETİŞTİRME YURDUNDA KALMIŞ YETİŞKİNLERİN DEVLET VE VATANDAŞLIKLIK ALGILARI (PERCEPTION OF STATE AND CITIZENSHIP OF ADULTS WHO STAYED IN ORPHANAGES)

by Adem Öcal

Co-authored with Güven Kemerkaya

2002 Weaving Rainbows in Oceania: Multiculturalism in Pac Ed

by Cresantia (Frances) Koya Vaka'uta

This paper focuses on the issue of national identity and culture. Its purpose is two-fold. Firstly, it explores the... more This paper focuses on the issue of national identity and culture. Its purpose is two-fold. Firstly, it explores the need for social learning through multicultural education in Pacific education systems. The discussion goes on to argue that an understanding of multiculturalism in education is important, given the increasingly diverse societies of PICs in the 21st century, as it enables children to see how diverse communities
(made up of many groups: religious, ethnic, etc.) can function through effective interaction and communication. It is based on the assumption that an education system which encapsulates social learning will ultimately better prepare students for their local and regional context as well as the globalised world into which they will soon emerge. Secondly, the paper discusses the use of a multiculturalist approach to curriculum development through the adoption of MC Ed, which could improve cross-cultural awareness and increased voluntary interaction through a better understanding of others in diverse communities.

2004 Searching for an inclusive National Consiousness

by Cresantia (Frances) Koya Vaka'uta

This paper reviews the need for Multicultural Education in Fiji and examines some of the contextual realities of... more This paper reviews the need for Multicultural Education in Fiji and examines some of the contextual realities of Socio-cultural and Political influences on the schooling experience.

2012 A reflection oin being Fijian & belonging to Fiji: A Value Theory Approach to Citizenship Education

by Cresantia (Frances) Koya Vaka'uta

Education in the 21st century is marked by the vast influence of globalization and the drive for international... more Education in the 21st century is marked by the vast influence of globalization and the drive for international comparability. In Fiji, as in the rest of the Pacific, this is no different. Education systems in the Pacific islands are characteristically informed and
influenced by external push and pull factors which are reflective of colonial legacies, as well as current donor dependency and the agendas that these dictate. This educational reality may be seen as a crisis of relevance that has been well documented by Pacific scholars. This paper presents the argument that the issue of what it means to ‘be’ Fijian and to ‘belong’ to Fiji is a wider socio-cultural/historical debate that has not been adequately dialogued. This dialogue is critical if citizenship education is intended to contribute to participatory citizenship and towards conscientization of national identity for social cohesion. It is further argued that a holistic curriculum package would enable students to learn through problem-solving the ability to bring about change in their own lives and in their communities.

Surveying through the Narratives of African Identity

by Mohamed Eno

with Omar A. Eno, In Jideofor Adibe (Ed.) Who Is an African?: Identity, Citizenship and the Making of the Africa-Nation (For citation: Eno, M. A. & Eno, O. A. "Surveying through the Narratives of African Identity" In Jideofor Adibe (Ed.) Who is an African?: Identity, Citizenship and the Making of the Africa-Nation. London: Adonis and Abbey Publishers Ltd. (pp 61-78)