Citizenship – Diversity, Participation and Learning

Abstract

Citizenship is a highly contested concept and has undergone numerous transformations through its history. The classical concept of legal and political citizenship that became dominant with the rise of the nation states in the 18th and 19th century has been subject of numerous critiques and discussions on the background of the evolving welfare states. Today citizenship continues to be a major topic of discussion. In an individualised setting the balance of duties and rights are tightly connected to the citizen as a single person and to a lesser degree to citizens as partakers in collective processes. The modern individual is often emphasised as a customer, and as a chooser separated from primordial identities and group based political cultures. At the individual levels this raises questions of how to handle the combination of “pluralisation and reflexivity”. What orientations do citizens need to have in order to support a commitment to their polity? People are more distrustful towards politicians and skeptical about how the democratic process functions. Some scholars claim a general widespread retreat from the public sphere, while others argue for a new engagement on the web and in non-formal political institutions. Globalisation, individualisation, multiculturalism, and new forms of social and political activity on the Net are all factors challenging the notion of citizenship. In this panel, we would like to focus on studies which deal with how to handle the concept of citizenship, how to study political activities, and which factors are involved in becoming a citizen. Also we welcome papers which discuss the role of citizenship as the “social glue”, as well as a wider societal order, new forms of political participation and new constellations of power.

Title	Details
The Control of Dissent in Iranian Universities	View Paper Details
The Rise of the Networked Citizen – A Critical Analysis of Italy’s Five-Star Movement	View Paper Details
Meaning Construction in Activists’ Communities: Sustaining Protest Participation Through a Perception of Strong Citizen?	View Paper Details
Governing Community as a ‘Moral Space’: Rethinking the Non-Citizen / Citizen Divide Within Liberal Citizenship	View Paper Details
Diversity, Latency and Change: Moving Beyond Stereotyped Notions of Youths’ Civic Engagement	View Paper Details
Educating for Diversity – Do Cosmopolitan Models of Citizenship Education Work?	View Paper Details