Contemporary Citizenship Research Articles

The Right to Difference: Identity and Self-Expression in Contemporary Citizenship

This paper examines how contemporary citizenship is increasingly shaped by diverse personal identities and their public expression. Assuming that contemporary innovations (LGBTQIAPN+ aggregations, the expansion of abortion for women and assistance for consensual individual deaths, studies into differentiated human conditions – objective and subjective – ethnic-racial emergencies – traditional or not – and care for specific corporealities) have unprecedentedly taken on human differences as citizenship rights, the author defends the thesis that the emerging network society stems from a contemporary tendency towards generalized competition for intimate self-exposure. By applying the concept of Agonistic Gift (Marcel Mauss), which referred to competitions between donors of works or activities, it is arguable that contemporaneity is a diversifying sociability because intimacy has become the object of competitive generosity. In order to explore this point, the author inductively selected and analyzed an interview with digital influencer Giovanna Titanero, who was selected because her followers adopt several different or even opposing lifestyles, to discuss the exponential contemporary social plurality and, by recovering the notion of community diversity (Ludwig Feuerbach), concludes that parliamentary self-reforms can make democracies representative of emerging human and cultural diversity.

Historical Bird Atlas and Contemporary Citizen Science Data Reveal Long‐Term Changes in Geographic Range of Kenyan Birds

ABSTRACTAimHistorical bird atlases provide comprehensive datasets for investigating long‐term changes in species' distribution. In the context of accelerating biodiversity loss, these datasets can lend critical insights into the state of bird distributions across broad spatio‐temporal scales and provide much‐needed information for impactful conservation. In Africa, the potential of atlas data to understand changes in avian populations remains largely untapped.LocationThis study mapped changes in national distribution patterns of 1088 bird species found in Kenya.MethodsTapping into one of the earliest atlas databases, this study compared Kenyan bird atlas data collected between 1970 and 1984 with recent citizen science data sourced from the Kenya Bird Map project and eBird to determine changes in ranges across 50 years. We produced maps displaying, for every 27 × 27 km square of the country, whether a species appeared, was present throughout both periods, or disappeared. We account for the change in data collection effort between the two periods by quantifying the confidence of the change for each square.ResultsThe maps produced for each species are publicly accessible through an interactive website: https://kenyabirdtrends.co.ke/. We found that related species tended to experience similar changes in their distribution ranges. The ranges of Palearctic migrants and scavengers declined drastically, while introduced birds experienced a significant range increase over the past 50 years.Main ConclusionsThis study demonstrates the potential of integrating recent citizen science data with historical atlas data to draw out the changes in range for all species at national level. The range contraction of Palearctic migrants and scavengers echoed corresponding drops in abundance at local, regional and global scales. These findings lend additional weight to the need for an increased conservation focus on migratory and scavenging birds in Kenya.

Dynamics of Social Identities and Contemporary Citizenship Discourses of the Matuas in India’s Bengal

Originally from the dalit Namasudras in eastern Bengal, Matuas were concerned with their own community development until they got actively involved in nationalist politics in British India. After partition, many Matuas settled in India’s Bengal—West Bengal—following their leader Pramatha Ranjan Thakur. But this Indian state was then suffering from acute resource shortage. So, accommodating the recurring refugee influx, mostly Namasudra-Matuas, led to rehabilitation outside the state. Thus, their caste concerns became suppressed by the necessity for permanent settlements and livelihood graduating into the recognition of Indian citizenship. The Government of India launched the Citizenship Act 1955, various rules and amendments thereto several times to tackle the discourses between refugeehood and citizenship of the Matuas. CAA 2019 and CAR 2024 tried to fulfil the Matuas’ prolonged demand for Indian citizenship but failed due to some conditions. This article seeks to investigate to what extent the social identities of the Matuas of West Bengal stand in intersections with the discourses of Indian citizenship. This is a qualitative article based on exploration of different legal documents on Indian citizenship, in the backdrop of various social and political imperatives. This approach of this article helps the readers to understand how the political parties are intertwined with the making, un-making and re-making of the social identities of the Matuas in West Bengal in different ways with the careful considerations of their electoral dividends and how these Matuas become mature enough to respond to them democratically with their evolutionary experiences.

Mechanism for developing brand equity of higher education institutes using intangible resources: a serial-multiple mediation analysis

PurposeThis study aims to build a comprehensive model for developing higher education institutes (HEIs) brand equity by examining the impact of HEIs intangible resources, brand management aspects, attachment strength and student’s contemporary citizenship behavior (CCB).Design/methodology/approachData were gathered through a self-administered questionnaire from Indian students and alumni (n = 703). The study examines the proposed comprehensive model through serial and multiple mediation analysis.FindingsThe study unfolded “service quality? brand image? attachment strength? word-of-mouth? brand equity” as the most significant path to develop HEI’s brand equity.Research limitations/implicationsThis study pioneers an empirically validated mechanism for developing brand equity in HEIs, addressing gaps identified by previous studies and offering a theoretical framework that elucidates how HEIs can leverage intangible resources through strategic brand management to foster attachment and influence positive student behaviors, thereby contributing to the development of HEI brand equity.Practical implicationsHEIs need to understand that relying solely on tangible aspects leads to short-lived effects. To maintain a lasting competitive advantage, HEIs should focus on crafting a rich historical narrative, retaining talented faculty and staff and earning respect from the public to build a lasting reputation.Originality/valueThis study develops the mechanism for developing brand equity of HEIs using its valuable, rare and inimitable intangible resources. Along with the introduction of novel constructs like competence, heritage and word-of-mouth to existing study, the proposed conceptual model is premised on the theory of self-congruence, social-exchange theory and CCB.

Mutual recognition across generations

‘Sovereignty’, Arendt says, ‘is contradictory to’ the human condition. It is not, in any event, the kind of thing that can be shared across generations. Subsequent generations lack sovereignty to the precise degree that they are bound by the decisions of their predecessors. It is no answer to say that contemporary citizens participate in the sovereignty of a whole, transgenerational people. To paraphrase de Tocqueville, later generations are not free because they are not entirely equal, and they are not equal because they are not entirely free. Where ‘sovereignty’ is a metaphysical concept that transcends time, recognition is an act of the imagination that extends empathy diachronically in both directions. An earlier generation treats its successors with recognition and respect by bequeathing the best system it can manage and entrusting later generations to exercise the same freedom that it enjoyed. Democratic law can exist across generations only through negation. Later citizens may accept as valid the law made by their predecessors. But, in doing so, they implicitly affirm their right to alter, amend, or abolish what came before. Only by freely affirming the choices of their predecessors can current citizens participate in something approaching freedom.

Meeting place

What is the essence and content of a modern city? Not buildings, not engineering networks and not roads. People, citizens, relationships and meetings between them are the central purpose of city life. The city is a space riddled with meetings. The news section of the current issue is devoted to meetings of architects. The anniversary of the oldest centre of theoretical architectural and town-planning thought and the Festival “Zodchestvo in Siberia” (ZVS) in Krasnoyarsk have become occasions for many heated discussions and celebratory meetings. This time the main exposition of the ZVS literally went out to meet the city – it was displayed on the museum avant-plaza above the Yenisei (11-44). The main theme of the festival – PERSONALITY – was developed in this issue of PB (45-92). Meetings can be constructive, and they can be conflictive. To prevent meetings from turning into conflicts, some flows need to be separated (e.g. pedestrian and car flows). A compulsory program of comfort growth is supposed to develop pedestrian zones in a modern city, as well as to make the embankments free from transport and industrial enterprises. To what extent is a contemporary citizen ready and eager for meetings? Has loneliness become a norm of life? Konstantin Lidin is discussing this issue in the leading article (94). The city’s public spaces can also be introverted and extroverted: Andrei Bokov introduces the concepts of INTRA and EXTRA in relation to different spaces – open and closed, which encourage people’s meetings in a different way (108). Who wins in the competition for full-fledged communication – social networks or open public spaces? This and many other questions were discussed in the PB Discussion Club dedicated to the theme of this issue: MEETING PLACE.

Latent democratic potential: reflections on contemporary citizenship education in Singapore

AbstractDemocratic citizenship education aims to empower students for active participation in democratic deliberation and meaningful public action. However, defining 'democratic' is complex, and ideals vary. Singapore's education system has faced criticism for perceived shortcomings in preparing students for democratic engagement. Concerns include a lack of understanding of democracy, a tendency to accept hierarchy without critical assessment, and a superficial grasp of citizenship concepts. The social studies curriculum and overall school environment are often seen as limited in fostering democratic involvement. This is attributed in the literature to a lack of explicit commitment to democracy in Singapore's citizenship education. Instead, the system appears to lean towards uncritical adherence to national values and commitment to the nation. This paper challenges the focus on formal citizenship education by exploring the potential for democratic engagement within the broader Singapore curriculum. It argues that implicit democratic values emerge through initiatives like "Thinking School, Learning Nation" and the 21st-century competencies framework, fostering critical thinking, which is crucial for developing democratic dispositions. The analysis of alignment between competencies in Singapore education initiatives and those crucial for contemporary democratic participation offers a nuanced understanding of citizenship education beyond its traditional link to notions of liberal democracy. The paper contributes to debates about democracy's relevance in non-liberal democratic contexts, enriching our understanding of alternative pathways to civic engagement and possible futures for democratic citizenship.

Slap a Label on It—Civic Registration Categories for (Non)Citizens and the Digital Promise

As we experience a sudden leap forward with machine learning models put into the decision-making apparatus of the state, social scientists are putting scrutiny on what actually goes into these datasets. Issues of ethics and representational harms are relevant questions that come up in the present day. Against this background, there has been little work thus far, bringing together various trajectories about the interplay between forms of contemporary citizenship and the politics of migration and diversity. Despite the persistent presence of diversity and migration as constructs that shape social relations in modern society, this gap is notable. Given their importance, it is crucial to continue analyzing these factors. This will contribute to more progressive ways of thinking about the relationship between the individual and the state. In this article, I draw attention to the civil registry identity categorizations in The Netherlands to explore some of the complexities surrounding the relationship between digitization and the often absent dynamics in public policy debates about migration and diversity. Drawing on cultural and political themes, I look at the digital as a language that can offer new perspectives on migration. I suggest that technology and its uses may work to enable the state to address and possibly resolve tensions in policy and practice between the intersection of regimes of rights (legal status) and diversity (forms of social cleavages).

“You’re like my twin soul”: postfeminist neoliberalism in Revenge Body with Khloé Kardashian

ABSTRACT Revenge Body with Khloé Kardashian premiered in 2017, adding a makeover show to the Kardashians’ already extensive media portfolio. This article contextualises the series in feminist media scholarship on postfeminism, neoliberalism and makeover TV. It argues that Revenge Body’s depiction of “experts” as potential sites of intimacy that facilitate inner and outer transformation furthers a postfeminist over-relation between bodily change and emotional wellbeing. By considering the show’s presentation of “experts” – both Kardashian and otherwise—this article contends that the bespoke matching of trainer and trainee plays into neoliberal conceptions of contemporary citizenship where subjects are instructed to transform and manage their own body in relation to the hegemonic expectations of their immediate social circle. Through various means, the series presents holistic lifestyle change as achievable through obedience, self-surveillance, and constant performative resilience.

Citizenship beyond solidarity and belonging

AbstractThe authors in this forum highlight collective action that gives way to new scripts of citizenship. This collective action also opens new spaces of common life, where people can perform the politics of being with others. I ask whether the concepts of commoning and sociability, rather than the language of solidarity and belonging, would be more suitable to capture the dynamics of contemporary citizenship struggles.

The Nones of Mombasa: Religious Disbelief and Disaffiliation on the East African Coast

Abstract Religious disbelief (RDb) and religious disaffiliation (RDa), which describe the intellectual, cultural, and social lives of contemporary citizens referred to as “Nones” (i.e., “none of the above” as a respondent’s choice among religious options), are emerging as sociological categories of increasing interest to religious studies scholars. Much of the research done thus far focuses on Western nations and religions. This study and the observations herein apply some of these same interests and methods to the African nonreligious scene. As a field site, the cosmopolitan city of Mombasa (pop. 1.2 million) on the Kenyan coast has for many recent generations been home to a variety of African, Arab, Indian-Asian, and European races, cultures, and religions. African Traditional Religions (ATRs), Islam(s), Indian religions, and Christianities all have a presence in this religiously pluralistic milieu. In this cosmopolitan context, we should expect to find among urban Africans some representation of trends found across the world, one of which is a potentially growing, if silent and low-profile, population called “Nones.”

Permanent roommates in the transparent blockchain ecosystem

In this article we present the interpretation of the results of a qualitative research conducted in 2022 as part of a doctoral thesis, the subject of which is the socio-psychological implications, caused by the application of the innovative blockchain technology in education and in our society in general. For the needs of this research, an experimental application for degree certification was created. Through its extensive use, the participants formed elaborate opinions based on their experiential interaction with blockchain technology. This study drew on semi-structured in-depth interviews. Data were collected from fourteen contemporary citizens with the scientific capacity of political and social studies. This research is a flash of illumination in the relationships developed between the members of the university community and the relationships beyond it, focusing on the main features of blockchain technology, security, immutability, traceability, availability, integrity, absence of a central authority, privacy, shifting security to the end user and possible use of tokens. The reflexive thematic analysis led to the construction of a more general theme: "Blockchain will form what we will be in the future" which captures how the participants perceive the future reality filtered through the differentiated needs of each of one's multiple identities. Two main themes were constructed under the overarching theme. Those two are: “blockchain as the Trojan horse of authorities and governing power” and “blockchain as the deus ex machina for modern man”. The adoption of blockchain technology as a tool to facilitate and simplify standard processes, meets the individual's need for validity, transparency, meritocracy, fairness and the emergence of truth. At the same time, participants express intense concern about the possibility of blockchain being instrumentalized as a new form of power in conjunction with new technologies such as 5G, AI, cloud computing, IoT and BDAA. The results of the research demonstrate the thorough attention that needs to be given to the conditions, in which the application of blockchain technology will be implemented in the field of education, in order to have the acceptance of the whole university community and society.

Репрезентация темы граффити в городских виртуальных сообществах: итоги контент-анализа

The paper is devoted to the conclusions of an empirical research that was carried out by the authors for sys-tematization of the most common strategies of representation of the topic of graffiti in contemporary urban vir-tual communities. Communication in urban virtual communities is considered by the authors as one of the most important variables that influence both the awareness of contemporary citizens about various phenome-na of urban life, and the modality of their attitude towards these phenomena. Using the data of their own empir-ical research, the authors strive to identify and systematize specific strategies, that appear in urban virtual communities when reflecting the controversial topic of graffiti. The analysis allows the authors to identify the three most common strategies for representing this phenomenon in urban virtual communities: information, conceptualization, and marginalization. The remarkable thing is that these strategies characterize different trends in the way graffiti is presented in the Internet environment limited to a certain urban space, but they form the mainstream of this process.

ROLE OF THE TRADITIONS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE OF WARMIA IN TEACHING RELIGION AT SCHOOL

Bringing back the Warmian traditions and care for the cultural heritage contributes to cultivating and propagating regional awareness among the contemporary citizens of Warmia. The purpose of the article entitled “Role of the traditions and cultural heritage of Warmia in teaching religion at school” is to present the results of the research, to which the textbooks used to teach reli­gion in the Warmian Archdiocese were subjected. The conclusions based on the analysis indicate the role of the tradition and cultural heritage of Warmia in teaching religion at school. Moreover, some suggestions were made concerning subsequent editions of the textbooks used in Warmia. While editing the text, methods of analysis and synthesis were used.

Legal identity in a looking-glass world: documenting citizens of aspirant states

ABSTRACT This introductory article, and the additional 11 contributions that comprise this special issue of Citizenship Studies, uses political science, international law and anthropology literature to unmoor the primacy of the nation-state as the sole entity able to confer legal identity on individuals. It does this by examining legal identity documents, and their ramifications, in entities that exist physically but do not exist (entirely) legally or politically, what we term aspirant states. We find that doing so highlights that these aspirant states are not a set of problems to be redressed by integrating these anomalous spaces into the international order with better governance or juridical disambiguation. Rather, legal identity documents issued by aspirant states raise more fundamental questions about contemporary citizenship regimes in general and about the way law and state authority are constructed and reproduced. Such arguments force us to contest and reconsider the violent and circular logic of the current nation-state system and how legal identity, and citizenship, is conferred and maintained.

Sustainable Management Decisions for Urban Historical Parks: A Case Study Based on Online Referential Values of Carol I Park in Bucharest, Romania

Urban historical parks represent important cultural touristic objectives that are part of a city’s own identity. However, currently, the image of these areas in the eyes of contemporary citizens does not always meet their needs and expectations. The purpose of this study is to reveal and evaluate the citizens’ perception level of a multi-objective historical park located in Bucharest, Romania—the Carol I Park. Using software methodology, we managed to determine, online and offline, the degree of public knowledge and interest for this specific urban area and, subsequently, the probability of civic interaction with it. For this, an algorithm was created by deconstructing user searches consisting of factual terms and their semantic derivatives. The search phrases were then run on the GetKeywords and Google Ads platforms, two professional software products mainly used in online advertising, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), research and audience analysis. Various numerical data were obtained, reflecting the structure of Romanian searches performed by users of the Google search engine, which were taxonomically ranked, graphically modeled, then construed and discussed. Therefore, the obtained analysis results can become an indicative tool for the direction to follow in establishing a sustainable managerial strategy that can lead to a viable exploitation and capitalization strategy of that area.

Colonial Bureaucracy and Contemporary Citizenship: Legacies of Race and Emergency in the Former British Empire By YaelBerda, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022, 280 pp., £75.00

<i>Colonial Bureaucracy and Contemporary Citizenship: Legacies of Race and Emergency in the Former British Empire</i> By YaelBerda, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022, 280 pp., £75.00

The spatiotemporal signature of cherry blossom flowering across Japan revealed via analysis of social network site images

Understanding how changing climatic conditions are impacting flowering plants typically requires intensive effort and expense to sample a local site regularly over long periods of time. The logistics of organising detailed surveys of an extensive area to provide a wider perspective are even more inhibitive. Data on flower bloom patterns across areas stretching hundreds or thousands of kilometres, and with a temporal resolution down to 1 or 2 weeks, is nevertheless very valuable, should it be feasible to collect. To understand the potential for contemporary data to record such flowering patterns, we studied Japan, a country where cherry (Sakura, 桜) flower viewing (Hanami) is a national cultural practice stretching back hundreds of years, and in which contemporary citizens and visitors commonly photograph blossoms to share on social network sites (SNS). We employed the big data this activity creates, within an iEcology framework, by collecting images from the SNS Flickr over the decade 2008–2018. We developed a custom filtering pipeline to validate this extracted data against established databases of historical flowering times. Our results reveal unprecedented detail of the spatiotemporal pattern over which cherry blossoms seasonally sweep from southern to northern Japan during a 12 week period. They also were sufficiently sensitive to reveal a subtle out of peak season bloom. This novel approach and data source therefore provides a simultaneously broad and detailed perspective that communicates the seasonal ecological phenomenon of cherry tree flowering.

Ecological Citizenship Discourse: A Critical Study of Citizenship Education in Indonesia

The research discussed that global and ecological citizenship discourse became vital for all current citizenship models; apart from the relational needs between humans and the environment, nature also needed to be preserved for survival and efforts to increase civic values. However, this conceptual-theoretical debate about the development and influence of this discourse created an antinomy among the dominant theories that had a place in contemporary citizenship discourse. Qualitatively, the research contributed to exploring the development of global and ecological citizenship discourse and its influence on students’ experiences of citizenship in Indonesia. It was built on ‘theoretical eclecticism’ and focused on the respondent’s ‘cognitive response’ combined with a critical realism perspective to analyze data, which was obtained randomly in various places and students from various majors by prioritizing the main aspects: mental existence; external existence; and essence as a knowledge domain; awareness; and their experiences. Each meeting lasted between 30 to 45 minutes with 100 respondents. Descriptively, the research results indicate that the development of global and ecological citizenship discourse has not received attention and has a significant impact on the discourse of education and citizenship experience in Indonesia. The ecological dimension lacks or does not yet have a close relationship with all other dimensions in the citizen’s experience as a form of civic virtue, including knowledge, awareness, and actions, both economic, social, and political.

Strategies of personification of the image of London: From binary conflicts to systems

The article is devoted to the city of London as one of the main topoi of British literature. London acquires the status of a central image in the Victorian novel where its anthropomorphism is created by binary conflicts of richness and poverty, splendor and dirt, good and evil, etc. Victorians saw London as a city of contrasts. Contemporary citizens talk about it in terms of diversity and ambiguity. British literature has developed the image of London into complex entangled systems, which reflects the present-day collective sensitivity to subjective attitudinal ambivalence and multiplicity of correct opinions. The article contemplates the images of the biggest and the greatest, city on earth in London by E. Rutherford (1997), London: The Biography by P. Ackroyd (2000), and Capital by J. Lanchester (2012). All the novels proceed from the anthropocentric presuppositions, i.e. from the perspective of the new genre of an urban biography. An urban biography as a genre gives new potency to the axiological dimension of a literary work since it remodels the reader’s perception and estranges (defamiliarizes) the object whether it is the history, politics, or social processes of Great Britain. The British novels under consideration manifest various intentions of their authors, which results in different strategies of estrangement. The article observes a variety of means of constructing anthropomorphic structures of the novels: physiological personification in Ackroyd’s, a cultural-historical excursion in Rutherford’s, and a contemporary social snapshot creating a critical public sphere in Lanchester’s narrative. The tendency to transfer topoi into anthropomorphic images is explained by the trend toward general dehumanization in the posthuman era.