Cultivating citizenship: paradox and possibility in a multicultural society

Abstract

This paper re-conceptualizes the relationship between the citizens and the state in view of praxes, dilemmas and contradictions found in modern multicultural societies. The new concept of citizenship is construed through a joint project for the state and human service professionals designated as organic intellectuals within a Gramscian framework in cultivating citizenship in a multicultural society. Citizenship is possible if it is to be pursued as rationality and ideology by state efforts, citizenship education through practice and a civic culture created through reflective professionalism. As differences are no longer found threatening or threatened, a sense of common citizenship can help enhance the capacity of individuals, social groups and society as a whole to meet challenges posed by globalization in enhancing human welfare and social justice within and across the boundaries of modern states.