Framework Of Citizenship Research Articles

Refining out-of-school youth sexualities empowerment programmes using a sexual and reproductive citizenship lens: the Masizixhobise toolkit

ABSTRACT Out-of-school comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) programmes are viewed by UNFPA as important in empowering youth. These programmes may, however, be critiqued for, firstly, inadvertently equating empowerment with individual agency to the exclusion of social justice; and, secondly, using the word empowerment as a self-evident signifier. We propose that empowerment be conceptualised within a critical sexual and reproductive citizenship (CSRC) framework that draws on feminist and queer re-workings of the principles of citizenship. To operationalise this conceptualisation, we developed the Masizixhobise toolkit from the five key issues outlined in the CSRC framework. The aim of the toolkit is to aid in the design and refinement of theoretically embedded empowerment CSE programmes. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of the toolkit. To do so, we analyse the Partners in Sexual Health’s (PSH) Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights facilitator’s manual. A template analysis was conducted on this manual using a priori of themes from the toolkit. We sift through the PSH manual’s alignments or misalignments with the CSRC framework and make recommendations for enhancing the empowerment components of the manual. This example may assist others in designing and refining theoretically embedded and socially just youth empowerment CSE programmes.

Are Short-Term Study Abroad Experiences Effective in Developing Global Citizenship in University Students Studying Health Degrees?

Short-term study abroad (STSA) experiences are an increasingly popular strategy used by universities to develop global citizenship in students. Global citizenship is particularly important for emerging health professionals with many health challenges of the 21st century being of global importance. Yet, evidence on the effectiveness of STSA is inconclusive, predominantly due to methodological issues limiting research to date. This quasi-experimental study draws on a recognized global citizenship framework encompassing dimensions of social responsibility, global competence, and global civic engagement to examine the changes in global citizenship pre- and post-STSA experience in health students. The sample consisted of health students (n = 75) who participated in an STSA experience (study tour or practicum) from 16 to 22 days in a less industrialized country and a control group (n = 66) who did not partake in any intervention. The data analysis found that students in the intervention group had significant improvements in their overall global citizenship score and its dimensions separately, except for social responsibility, while no significant changes were seen in the control group. The findings provide evidence to support STSA experiences as an accessible option for universities to promote global citizenship development among health students.

The materiality of lived citizenship: mobilising against infrastructural neglect in Egypt’s Nile Delta

ABSTRACT In September 2012, the village of al-Tahseen in the Nile Delta governorate of al-Daqahliyyah launched a civil disobedience movement, announcing ‘administrative independence’ from the local municipal government. The leaders of the village movement cited decades of state neglect in providing basic infrastructural services, primarily a three-kilometre road from the village to the closest regional road. Community members held the government accountable for the harmful consequences of the absence of a viable road, including numerous accidents and deaths. This demand for infrastructure is at the heart of this article. Through a lived citizenship framework, this article argues that people’s everyday interactions and engagements with the state, as well as their understanding of their place as citizens in return, emerge from their engagements, constructions, and demands for infrastructure provision. The article equally sheds light on a case study of rural mobilisation, when most scholarly productions of Egypt’s 25 January 2011 Revolution and its reverberations have focused on urban-based mobilisation experiences.

Intelligent Agents at School—Child–Robot Interactions as an Educational Path

The pervasiveness of technologies leads us to talk about a code society. From an educational point of view, coding, computational thinking, and educational robotics are an open possibility. Nevertheless, new elements such as artificial intelligence are rapidly changing educational technology perspectives. In this work, we will analyze school policies and theoretical bases in order to understand if, and under what kind of, condition coding, computational thinking, and educational robotics still represent the qualifying elements of a framework for digital literacy and digital citizenship.

European citizenship and digitalization: A new roadmap for interconnection

EU citizenship is strongly linked to digital transformations, as digitalisation redefines how citizens engage, communicate and participate within the EU. Digital advancements have transformed the European public sphere and are radically changing democratic deliberation by enhancing access to information, facilitating transnational dialogue and fostering new forms of civic engagement. E-governance and digital public services streamline administrative processes, making it more convenient for citizens to access various services. Digitalisation of interaction among EUs’ citizens can support their mobility and connectivity. However, rapid digital advancement also brings challenges of evolving multifaced EU identity in fast paced, post-truth, increasingly complex social system like the EU.The main goal of this article is to show the relevance of postmodern theories for the creation of a theoretical framework for digital European citizenship and the digital European public sphere. By embracing complexity, encouraging critical reflexion and prioritizing adaptability, a postmodern theoretical framework can enhance our understanding of the challenges and opportunities presented by digital technologies in the EU context, ultimately contributing to more inclusive, democratic and responsive forms of digital citizenship and public discourse.However, as this article shows, the synthesis of a postmodern perspective and digital technologies can also bring its own challenges, such as fragmentation, epistemological uncertainty or ethical dilemmas. Addressing these challenges requires critical engagement with both postmodern theories and digital technologies, acknowledging their complexities and contradictions while striving to promote ethical and inclusive uses of digital technology that empower EU citizens.

What can children do with the Anthropocene?

The Anthropocene is a geo-stratigraphic unit of the upper Earth’s layers, impacted by human disturbances, but also humankind’s historical record, and children’s place to live on. It is an unfinished narrative. This study explores how garden and soil-related activities with kindergarten children, guided by well-informed teachers, may have the potential to overcome some gaps of understanding of complex, interrelated concepts related to the Anthropocene and regenerative gardening. Within a framework of environmental citizenship, this qualitative study uses interdisciplinary, interactive and participatory approaches to explore inquiry-based activities based on observations, conversations, photos and videos. As participants in related processes, children may gradually develop garden skills, ecological knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts. The study may empower children and their teachers to contribute actively and positively to the ongoing narrative of the Anthropocene; to a more sustainable formation of the Earth’s upper layer; and to countering climate change.

Technological Citizenship in Times of Digitization: An Integrative Framework

This article introduces an integrative framework for technological citizenship, examining the impact of digitization and the active roles of citizens in shaping this impact across the private, social, and public sphere. It outlines the dual nature of digitization, offering opportunities for enhanced connectivity and efficiency while posing challenges to privacy, security, and democratic integrity. Technological citizenship is explored through the lenses of liberal, communitarian, and republican theories, highlighting the active roles of citizens in navigating the opportunities and risks presented by digital technologies across all life spheres. By operationalizing technological citizenship, the article aims to address the gap in existing literature on the active roles of citizens in the governance of digitization. The framework emphasizes empowerment and resilience as crucial capacities for citizens to actively engage with and govern digital technologies. It illuminates citizens’ active participation in shaping the digital landscape, advocating for policies that support their engagement in safeguarding private, social, and public values in the digital age. The study calls for further research into technological citizenship, emphasizing its significance in fostering a more inclusive and equitable digital society.

Is it possible for sustainability? The case from the new capital city of Indonesia

The decision to relocate the nation’s capital from Jakarta is not without reason. Jakarta, the nation’s capital, is regarded as less than ideal, with numerous issues such as flooding, air pollution, poor water quality, and political and environmental sustainability. This research will be based on the framework of ecological citizenship to investigate active citizens. The lesson from other countries that relocate their capital city as a comparison. This research uses a qualitative research method with a literature study type of research. reviewing several previous studies on citizenship and academic texts on moving the nation’s capital, studies on moving the capital, and legislation on the nation’s capital. This research tries to find how the possibility of environment sustainability in the new capital project. Ecological concerns have not been on the agenda of public discussion. Moreover, this research provides more information on the opportunity of ecological citizenship community in Indonesia’s new capital city project, in the context of the sustainability agenda.

Digital nomadism and the challenge to social citizenship

AbstractAs a subset of remote work, digital nomadism crosses jurisdictions and generates fears that it unfairly escapes regulation and taxation. Alongside other circuits of an emerging world society, it fails to fit neatly into the longstanding template of relatively self‐contained nation‐states. Most efforts to address this new phenomenon merely aim to tweak tax treaties and other rules, so as better to slot mobile individuals back into existing schemes of regulation and redistribution. But digital nomadism suggests a more fundamental need to rethink the entire modern framework of social citizenship. Social citizenship bundles together immobile populations, territorial sovereignty, and the state as the main clearinghouse of justice and solidarity. In mapping out an alternative, this article draws on resources in political thought dealing with a plurality of spheres of life. Unbundling the strictly territorial functions of the state from other functions of risk‐sharing and solidarity would better correspond to the new and varied scales of cross‐border living.

Examining the Nexus of Financial Inclusion, Household Consumption, and Economic Growth: A 3SLS Approach

The relationship between finance and the economy is a long-standing debate in the development literature. While some researchers argue that finance tracks economic growth, others contend that finance is a crucial determinant of economic growth. The research findings on this topic differ depending on the country, period studied, data analyzed, and research methodology employed. 
 On the other hand, the relationship between economic growth and financial inclusion is a relatively new area of study in academic literature. The primary objective of financial inclusion is to guarantee that each person has access to and uses financial products at an affordable cost. Within this context, accessing and using financial products is seen in the framework of financial citizenship. 
 This paper examines the impacts of digital banking and financial inclusion on economic growth and household consumption in Turkey. For this purpose, financial inclusion and digital banking indices have been constructed. Further, the relations between these indices with the GDP Index and the Resident Household Consumption Index are examined by the three-stage least square (3SLS) methodology with two equations. The results show that digital banking and financial inclusion positively impact economic growth and household consumption.

Academic citizenship in an age of anti-intellectualism

This essay focuses on the fundamental idea that established theory can guide faculty professional service to inform and educate the general public. More specifically, we explore how faculty can use Boyer's scholarship of engagement as a framework for faculty academic citizenship and partnering with external audiences. Two recommendations are made related to intentional structural changes to universities as organizations for faculty academic citizenship to be relevant and make important contributions in the future.

Educating for a Just World: Empowering K-12 Students as Global Democratic Digital Citizens

Given the incredible growth in online activity since the global pandemic, there is a need for an updated approach to digital citizenship education that positions students as critical designers and producers who use their learning to inform, to support, and to offer opportunities for change in their communities. In this paper, we examine some of the recent conceptualizations of digital citizenship, human rights education, and global citizenship to identify their intersections and move toward the development of a Global Democratic Digital Citizenship framework for K-12 education. We argue that current frameworks target distinct skills and competencies that enable individualistic performance of global and digital citizenship actions but neglect the development of democratic characteristics and the ways in which these are mediated by digital technologies. Students must understand how to engage respectfully with others, make their voice heard, become interculturally intelligent, and act responsibly and democratically online. Citizenship entails participation in representative democracy; therefore, citizenship education must empower youth to actively engage in local and global democratic processes through both physical and digital channels.

The Abu Dhabi Document: A Potential Cornerstone for Islamic-Christian Dialogue in Italian Educational Contexts

In Italy, the migratory phenomenon has also had an impact on the school system, becoming an interesting potential field for intercultural and inter-religious encounters. As regards, for instance, the presence of pupils and students and their families of Islamic faith, very frequently, emphasis is placed almost exclusively on specific issues and requests, such as exemption from the teaching of the Catholic religion or specific diet. On the other hand, we rarely discuss how the presence of diverse faiths can create a unique opportunity for mutual knowledge to spread and promote the “culture of encounter”. In fact, engagement with religious others is an unavoidable duty, both pedagogical and civic. Therefore, starting from an analysis of pedagogical-educational aspects of the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, the aim of this article is to outline a rethinking of the concept of intercultural/inter-religious dialogue, above all as a pedagogical challenge and a preventive measure against extremism, within the broad framework of inclusive citizenship.

In Citizenship We Trust? The Citizenship Question Need Not Impede Puerto Rican Decolonization

Puerto Rico is an uncomfortable reminder of the democratic deficits within the world’s oldest constitutional democracy. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens who live in a U.S. territory that is subject to the plenary authority of Congress, to which they cannot elect voting members. In 2022, under unified Democratic control for the first time in a decade, Congress considered the Puerto Rico Status Act, legislation that would finally decolonize Puerto Rico. The Status Act offered Puerto Rican voters three alternatives to the colonial status quo—statehood, independence, or sovereignty in free association—and committed Congress to implementing whichever alternative won majority support from Puerto Rican voters. The Status Act sought to define how any change in status would affect Puerto Ricans’ access to U.S. citizenship. The Status Act proposed that all Puerto Ricans would retain their U.S. citizenship if Puerto Rico became independent or entered free association but included special restrictions that would limit Puerto Ricans’ ability to pass on their U.S. citizenship to children born after a change in status. While this Note appreciates the Status Act’s efforts to decolonize Puerto Rico, it argues that the Status Act erred in proposing this specialized regime for citizenship claims. Instead, it contends that the existing derivative citizenship framework would better regulate citizenship for Puerto Rican U.S. citizens born after a change in status. Although the Status Act died in the Senate, it represents a new and influential formula for decolonizing Puerto Rico. Future proponents of status reform should draw on the existing derivative citizenship law because it offers clearer provisions that can better ensure a large number of Puerto Ricans may rely on U.S. citizenship—a benefit Puerto Ricans themselves clearly value—even after a change in status.

The Secular State: An Epistemological Approach to The An-Na’im’s Political Thought

This article aims to reveal the political thoughts of Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im regarding the concept of a secular state. The material object of this study is An-Na'im's political thought in the form of a secular state concept which is reviewed using epistemology as its formal object. The results of this study explain that: first, the basic assumption of An-Na'im's political thought is a post-secularist worldview. Second, the paradigm is anthropocentric positivism. Third, the framework is constitutionalism, human rights, and citizenship. All these three are used by An-Na'im primarily to make sharia relevant to the context of a modern state. Viewed from an Islamic perspective, the epistemology of An-Na'im's political thought is problematic because after all, post-secularism is still rooted in the principle of separation of state and religion. Making post-secularism a basic assumption is a form of confusion in perspective. Making anthropocentric positivism a paradigm also means placing human knowledge as the main truth. Likewise, framing sharia within the framework of constitutionalism, human rights, and citizenship is a step that has the potential to ignore aspects of the maslahat contained in sharia.

Navigating the Environmental Education and Climate Change Curriculum in Türki̇ye through the Prism of Climate Change Literate Citizenship

In the present study a theoretical framework (i.e., Climate Change Literate Citizenship) that combines climate change literacy and climate citizenship was developed first. Then, criteria that correspond to each of the components of the proposed theoretical framework were developed and used to analyze the learning objectives in the “Environmental Education and Climate Change” curriculum. Data analyses utilized in the study presented a snapshot of the descriptive landscape of the curriculum in terms of the distribution of the objectives within the curriculum. Manifest and latent analyses realized through MAXQDA 2022 software were used to illustrate world cloud and word trends and alignment of the curriculum objectives with respect to the criteria developed for the Climate Change Literate Citizenship framework. Findings showed that there was an uneven distribution of the learning objectives within the Climate Change Literate Citizenship framework. Most of the learning objectives aimed to support climate change literacy, where objectives pertaining to the promotion of climate citizenship were relatively less in number. A similar uneven distribution was observed within the components of climate change literacy (i.e., functional, cultural, critical) and climate citizenship (i.e., personally responsible, participatory, justice oriented) as well. That is, there was not any objectives related to the cultural component of climate change literacy; most of the objectives aimed to develop functional component followed by the critical component. Among the components of climate citizenship, personal responsibility component and participatory component were addressed equally but there was only one learning objective that is in line with justice-oriented climate citizenship. Thus, our findings as a whole suggest that the curriculum adopts a fragmented rather than a holistic approach to climate change education. Nonetheless, further studies are required to make more robust conclusions about the curriculum and its practice.

Innovative educational praxis with a focus on ethics and politics

The place of innovative praxis as a possibility for the realisation of the ethical and the political in an educational setting, within the framework of legal literacy and early citizenship is presented; to this end, the project is described as one of the techniques to address these processes, defining a specific didactic situation, which was applied to a community of students between twelve and fifteen years of age, for which the results are presented.

Digital citizenship at school: Democracy, pragmatism and RRI

This paper presents a strategy for fostering digital citizenship at school that transcends the mere use of digital devices or instructional methods focused solely on their use. The core premise of this proposal rests on the need for an ethical-political debate concerning digitization in education. In addition, it emphasizes the need to cultivate a form of digital literacy that blends science and technology with the humanities, and erases the traditional boundaries between making and thinking. The proposed approach encapsulates two primary concerns: firstly, it asserts that digital literacy serves as a foundation for meaningful participation in digital societies; secondly, it underscores the importance of democratizing digital technologies by incorporating the perspectives, needs, and concerns of children. Drawing inspiration from the theories of pragmatism and responsible research and innovation (RRI), we present a conceptual framework for digital citizenship. To operationalize this approach, we adapt John Dewey's pragmatic model of inquiry as a method that can be applied within the school setting. This pragmatic methodology serves as a conduit for developing hands-on experience geared towards developing digital citizenship. The practical implementation of this methodology is illustrated through an actualized experience with 10- and 11-year-old children in a public primary school, regarding the issue of care robots. This paper advocates for a symbiotic relationship between theoretical understanding and practical application, and puts forward a concrete proposal for the integration of digital citizenship in schools in the form of a four-phase procedural model, based on the creation of what we term ‘the encounter’ between the educational community and the research and development community.

Loyalty, Subjecthood, and Violence: Veracruz’s Afro-descendants in the Early Mexican War of Independence, 1812–1813

Abstract: This article is centered around the experiences of Afro-descendant men in the 1812–1813 period of the Mexican War of Independence as it occurred in the port-city of Veracruz and it Sotavento (Leeward) hinterland. It argues that Black men had complex, active, and essential roles in providing the backbone of regional royalist and insurgent armies. It pieces together the fragmented military and political agency of Veracruz’s Afro-descendant men as reflected in published and unknown archival sources of the colonial and national archive, such as military reports and correspondence, constitutions, decrees, 19th Century published accounts, and a lengthy court case. This article sheds light on how Afro-descendant men were pushed to participate by their individual and collective needs, reacting to localized, and transatlantic, conditions that promised, or excluded them from, social, economic, and political advancement. By centering Veracruz’s Afro-descendant men as instrumental players of the war, even in leadership roles, this article seeks to problematize traditional narratives of the struggle that negate and erase Black History in the Mexican struggle for liberation. This article also places their experiences within the backdrops of Atlantic World politics during the Age of Revolutions. It examines the ways by which they reacted to limiting frameworks of citizenship influenced by localized, and transatlantic, Anti-Black stereotypes and fears, along with the adoption of the 1812 Cádiz Charter. This article argues that these men found themselves amidst the paradox of being militarily wanted but politically rejected by nineteenth century Spanish colonialism. This led Afro-descendant men to seek new opportunities of belonging and empowerment, joining the insurgency to improve their sociopolitical status. This article seeks to humanize voiceless Afro-descendant historical actors placing them as essential players of Veracruz’s, and the Greater Caribbean’s, early-nineteenth century regional dynamics.

Land politics and settlers’ responses to land tenure under threat in emerging peri-urban spaces in Zimbabwe

Drawing on the case study of Caledonia peri-urban settlement in Zimbabwe, this study presents the complex struggles and responses undertaken by settlers to assert their access, utilization, and rights to land for settlement. Employing qualitative methodologies including 50 in-depth interviews, participant observations, key informant interviews, and document analysis, the study reveals the lived experiences of vulnerable peri-urban settlers when faced with challenges posed by expanding local authorities and land acquisitions orchestrated by influential elites. Grounding our analysis in the theoretical framework of insurgent citizenship, this study challenges the notion of passive vulnerability among poor urbanites or settlers and illuminates their capacity to design protective mechanisms against threats to their land tenure. In the context of Caledonia, vulnerable settlers employed a range of strategies such as political rent-seeking, legal action, civil disobedience, and invoking religious symbolism to safeguard their land rights. Through these actions, we uncover a complex interplay between settlers’ agency and the emerging dynamics of authority, revealing not only the proliferation of competing claims but also the emergence of novel forms of power that shape access and control over coveted urban resources, particularly land. Given the complexities of land politics in Africa’s peri-urban, more studies will deepen understanding of dynamics shaping land access, privatisation, commodification and how such transformations are reconfiguring the political economy of peri-urban spaces.