Contemporary Citizenship Research Articles

Speaking like a citizen: Biopolitics and public opinion in recognizing non-citizen children in Israel

This paper examines the public sphere process by which non-citizen children of labor migrants came to be recognized as Israeli citizens. In response to a public campaign, three government resolutions were issued in the 2000s to provide Israeli citizenship for these young non-citizens. Generally, studies of non-citizen migrants have emphasized their deportability and illegality as the primary aspect of the biopolitics of contemporary citizenship. On the other hand, I draw attention to the mass mediated process from which public opinion emerges to set the boundary between citizen and non-citizen. To describe this, I examine the pragmatics of voicing non-citizen children in public discourse. I also describe how legal documentation became the semiotic technology through which public opinion was rationalized bureaucratically.

Practice makes pedagogy – John Dewey and skills-based sustainability education

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to ground contemporary sustainability education in John Dewey’s democratic pedagogy. Specifically, the authors argue that Dewey’s thought anticipates, and theoretically informs, the sustainability skill set required of contemporary citizens in a complex and changing world.Design/methodology/approach– For illustrative purposes, the authors consider how these skills are at work in current approaches to the adaptive co-management of ecosystems, and they argue that these same skills are at work across professional and cultural contexts, toward the achievement of sustainable societies. In turn, the authors situate Dewey’s relevance to contemporary sustainability education in his writing on interdependence, fallibilism and experimentalism.Findings– Dewey’s writings provide both a historical antecedent and still valid moral and practical justification for sustainability education’s emphasis on integrated and adaptive learning.Practical implications– Grounding sustainability education in Dewey’s democratic pedagogy underlines its capacity and obligation to develop critical thinking and systems thinking skills, communication skills and collaboration skills in students.Originality/value– The paper acknowledges the many ways Dewey has been incorporated into environmental philosophy, experiential pedagogy and sustainability theory. But Dewey’s role in the historical development of skills-based pedagogy and, more specifically, his continuing contribution to contemporary practices of sustainability education has yet to be explored. By grounding sustainability education in Dewey’s democratic pedagogy, the authors underline its civic mandate to empower citizens to become lifelong learners and skillful stewards.

Recent Progress in Online Communication Tools for Urban Planning

This comparative analysis of Polish and German online communication tools for urban planning follows a similar study conducted in 2012. A comprehensive method for analysis of e-participation tools including three complimentary criteria: “transparency”, “spatiality” and “interactivity” is now enhanced with mobile applications for planning. Using the same research sample (the biggest regional capital cities) enables the comparison of the ICT tools in the years 2012-2015. The results show how public planning institutions improve and develop their online communication in urban planning processes in line with the contemporary trends and citizens' expectations. They also point to the emerging standards in e-participation in urban planning, evidently similar in Poland and Germany despite different historical background as well as socio-political and technological contexts.

Naturaleza and citizenship in Modern Spain. From subject representation to the dawn of contemporary citizenship (17th-19th centuries)

Abstract The Constitution of Cadiz of 1812 defines the profiles of the spanish subject and spanish citizen, to ones a clearly modern citizen, to others, a still immersed subject in the corporate world of the Ancient Regime. Is still debated, therefore, if the gaditana constitution has the aspects of the modern citizenship or if it drags the conditions of the former local nature which tends to become universal in the Hispanic Empire. From the proposed Great Memorial of the Conde-Duque de Olivares and the Nueva Planta decrees of Felipe V, We intend to review the main questions which appears crystallized in the Novísima Recopilación, then discussed in the Cortes doceañistas. There the terms nature and citizenship played a central role in the discussions, as well as later uses of corporate conceptions.

Twenty-first century cyborgs: cosmetic surgery and aesthetic nationalism in Colombia

In this article, I explore the institutional and symbolic construction of aesthetic nationalism in Colombia around a fetishization of women’s surgically exaggerated breasts and buttocks. While political scientists have focused almost exclusively on the internet and social media, other technological advancements have altered the relationships between state and society, public and private, and bodies and national inclusion. Combined with the transnational flow of ideas, goods, and people and a political economy that embraces cosmetic surgeries as a development model, this intersectional analysis suggests that aesthetic nationalism in Colombia has recentered the female body in the practice of nationalism, communicating political information, belonging, and power. Based on archival research, direct observation, and elite interviews, I argue that cosmetic interventions play a key role in conferring citizenship rights and defining the borders of the political community. This study contributes to our understanding of how intersectionality can help explain the ways in which technology shapes national body politics, disrupts conventional modes of political communication and representation, and positions the body at the center of contemporary citizenship practices.

Advertising and science education: a multi-perspective review of the literature

We are living in an increasingly diverse media landscape, with advertising a significant part of this. There appears to be unanimous agreement that the ability to critically examine and make rational decisions about advertising is indispensable for contemporary citizens. Students need to develop critical thinking skills in order to evaluate messages and facts drawn from advertisements in various media. They also need to be familiar with the hidden mechanisms used to create advertisements with the goal of subconsciously influencing consumers. Today, advertising for many products has strong scientific and technological components. However, learning both with and about advertising does not play a prominent role in the science education literature. To date, the use of advertising as educational content is found almost exclusively in the humanities and social sciences, especially language education. On the other hand, there is an extensive body of research on the effects of advertising on children, consumer socialization as well as marketing strategies aimed at young consumers. The results indicate that advertising has a strong impact on children’s beliefs and perceptions which already starts at an early stage. Therefore, this paper attempts to analyse the potential use of and learning about advertising in science education. It reviews the available literature, not only from science education, but also from other domains, including non-science subjects, cross-curricular approaches as well as research on the use and effects of advertising in the public arena. The aim is to identify the potential roles advertising might play in the science classroom and to open up new directions for science education research and curriculum development.

Ciudadanía: aprendizaje de una forma de vida

Objective: This study offers a historical overview of the classical and modern models and approaches to citizenship in an effort to clarify its origin, development, deeper meaning and validity. Methodology: Based on a review of the different theoretical approaches to citizenship, its evolution, transformations and implications are traced in comparison to the overriding debates and questions surrounding citizenship in today's context. Findings: The study indicates contemporary citizenship is very different from classical citizenship, not only with respect to entitlements and rights, but also as a manifestation of inequality, social crisis and the emergence of other interests that govern modern societies, especially economic interests. A citizen is a political being, with a social and moral dimension. This suggests the formation of citizenship is not the rote learning of rules (judicial, legal and political), but the actual realization of a way of life and coexistence among human beings in society.

Scapegoat citizens in times of austerity: the impact of the crisis on the immigrant population in Spain

The economic crisis has not yet produced alarming cases of racism and social conflict in Spain. However, as we shall analyse, there are indications that ‘immigrants’ are considered one of the first populations to be disposed of in times of crisis. A preference for nationals is increasing among traditional parties, alongside the rise of political parties with anti-immigrant agendas. Unemployment rates among the foreign born population are disproportionate in comparison with those of the native population. Migration policies that link residence permits to the possession of an employment contract have resulted in disturbing rates of irregularity. Health regulations have been amended to prevent irregular immigrants from accessing ‘universal’ health care. Police raids occur in public places to detain and expel undocumented immigrants, and ‘hospitality’ towards irregular immigrants is considered a criminal offence by a new reform in the Penal Code. As a parallel trend that is repeated in other European countries in times of austerity, we shall identify a depletion of universal rights, detention, and deportation as alienating strategies and technologies that are used to redefine the relations between citizens and ‘others’ within the contemporary citizenship regime. Leaning on Engin Isin's critical perspective on citizenship, this article argues that under the circumstances of crisis and austerity that harry Spain, the ‘immigrant’ is constructed as a disposable category, not only to balance the labour market and welfare state, but also to reinforce the notion of the national citizen as a subject of rights.

Ethics, Law and Social Justice

Ethics and responsibility would be a vexing or awesome topic that the contemporary citizen more likely wishes to avoid giving his or her views or opinions. That is perhaps because the society transforms rapidly and turns to become more diverse from the past decades. These concepts, on the other, comes not in the ancient or middle era classics, but from the near modern context in 18th England and French land. In dealing with the nature and relationship between the two concepts, another notion of morality also comes into a comparative context. Morality, if often interchangeably used with the ethics, could be seen in some differences that ethics is a dimension one step removed from action. So we used to preach our dependents or subjects to conform their conduct to the kind of moral demand, Exert your best to the interest of nations or society, Practice a love and humiliation with brothers, sisters and neighbors, Never be drunken while driving, Do not commit an adultery or do not steal other’s property, and the likes. Law, then, would be a minimal of morality which prescribes a prohibited conduct and corresponding criminal sanctions proportionally with the gravity of culpability or social harms. Those concepts might share a common element in a great extent, but could be made distinguished in some of subtleties.

Citizenship and Civic Activity in Contemporary Bulgaria: (Non-) European Dimensions

This paper presents some theses on the development of citizenship issues in Bulgaria in recent decades. A working notion of citizenship is proposed in correspondence with the modern achievements of the theory. The historical context of the concept is briefly outlined bringing forth the formulation of two major problems. The discourse of rights is analyzed as both a basis of and an internal limitation on developing contemporary citizenship framework. The Bulgarian case is considered through the prism of the pre-democratic heritage and the consequences of the democratic change to the modification of state-citizens relationship. The protest activity is proved to be the key manifestation of civic activism. In the light of this, two illustrating examples are provided so that the character, the direction, the depth and the main elementsof change can be traced. At the end, some conclusions on perspectives of citizenship are made.

Co-designing a civics curriculum: young people, democratic deficit and political renewal in the EU

Contemporary discussion of the ‘crisis in democracy’ displays a tendency to see young people as the problem because they are ‘apolitical’, ‘apathetic’ and ‘disengaged’, or point to deficiencies in institutions deemed responsible for civic education. This discussion normally comes as a prelude to calls for more civics education. This article points to a renewal of politics at the hands of young people relying on new media, and draws on evidence like survey research, case studies and action research projects. This political renewal is occurring largely in response to the assumption of political elites that a ‘politics-as-usual’ will suffice to address the major political challenges of our time. Against the assumption that teachers, curriculum experts and policy-makers already know what kinds of knowledge and skills students need to become good citizens, we make a case for co-designing a contemporary citizenship curriculum with young people to be used for the professional development of policy-makers. We argue that such an intervention is likely to have a salutary educational effect on policy-makers, influence how they see young people’s political engagement and how they set policy agendas. The article also canvasses the protocols such a project might observe.

INTERPRETATIONS OF JUSTICE IN CONTEMPORARY RUSSIA: THE RESULT OF ONLINE SURVEY

This article is aimed to clarify semantic connotations of the word «Justice», formed by the Russian political consciousness and represented in the language of Russian internet users. On the basis of secondary data analysis, the author analyzes the role of the idea of justice in the political consciousness of contemporary Russian citizens. Using the data of his own sociological research and secondary data analysis, the author describes the meanings often attributed to the concept of justice in contemporary Russian society and illustrates his ideas on the analysis of the attitudes of Russian Internet users. The key idea of the article is that the theme of justice has become one of the most important for the modern Russian society and it is often understood through the identification with the concept of law. In this article the author describes the relationship between these concepts in the opinion of contemporary Russians

Bruxelles à l’épreuve de ses eaux. Inventivité hydrique en milieu urbain aux époques médiévale et moderne

Brussels and the test of water. Hydric creativity in an urban area in the Middle and Modern Ages. For the last two or three decades, historical research on urban areas has brought to light new data on the hydraulic systems built in the Middle Ages. Far from confirming the usual clichés of “ spontaneous” or “ organic” mediaeval town planning, the research has led to the rediscovery of objects and traces which bear witness to the complexity of these systems and the creative designs implemented to meet the needs or social or economic demands of some players. Brussels is one of the cities whose ancient hydraulic past has thus been rediscovered and better understood. While Brussels’ contemporary citizens are calling for the reinvention of the water distribution and sharing networks, this paper offers a synthesis of the issues surrounding the city’s mediaeval town planning strategies regarding its water system in an attempt to put them into perspective.

La percepción del espacio en el urbanismo tardoantiguo: características evolutivas en el ejemplo hispano

Roman urbanism experimented, in Late Antiquity, a fundamental transformation of its structural principles and organisation of space. However, the process - the context in which it took place and its phases - is currently imprecise and its guidelines remain difficult to determine. Taking the Iberian Peninsula as a case study, this article analyses the variants of these transformations, which seemed to be partially perceived by contemporary citizens. Moreover, and following our investigation of Hispanic urban centres, the article outlines the elements that define the characteristics of the Late Antique city and its projection onto the social imaginary: first, a different assessment of urban space, and secondly, a new conception of the horizontal and vertical lines of the construction project of cities.

From Agrarian Dreams to Democratic Realities

Wendell Berry’s claim that local food economies are the only viable alternative to an agro-food system that cares more about profit than either environmental health or human well-being has generated considerable controversy. The strengths and limitations of Berry’s vision, I argue, stem from its indebtedness to Jeffersonian republicanism. Furthermore, I demonstrate that John Dewey’s The Public and Its Problems offers an alternative to Jeffersonian republicanism that embraces the third president’s faith in popular rule but lacks his preoccupation with economic self-sufficiency. Dewey gives contemporary citizens a framework for resisting the industrial food system that is more open to diverse perspectives and experiences, and more attentive to human interdependency. He also provides criteria that can be used to differentiate romantic and potentially reactionary forms of localism from efforts to build communities capable of challenging undemocratic concentrations of power.

Strategy Research on the Enhancement of Wuhan Public-Art Interactivity in Digital Times

Under the background of digital times,We are committed to solved these problems which are based on the solution to the problems of social attitudes of contemporary Wuhan citizen from the perspective of public art. Current Wuhan public art is not merely the aesthetic object, but a medium to publicize urban spirit and express public will and citizens ’ personality. The forms of expressions of public art in digital times are highly enriched and diversified; as for Wuhan, a city with distinct characteristics, the public properties of public art should give priority to citizens’ involvement. In order to propel this interactivity, we conducts strategy research so as to improve citizens’ overall aesthetic quality, reproduce urban characteristics of Wuhan and boost urban image of Wuhan by means of public art.

Counterculture

Counterculture

The Countercultural Potential of Citizen Science

What is the countercultural potential of citizen science? As a participant in the wider citizen science movement, I can attest that contemporary citizen science initiatives rarely characterise themselves as countercultural. Rather, the goal of most citizen science projects is to be seen as producing orthodox scientific knowledge: the ethos is respectability rather than rebellion (NERC). I will suggest instead that there are resonances with the counterculture that emerged in the 1960s, most visibly through an emphasis on participatory experimentation and the principles of environmental sustainability and social justice. This will be illustrated by example, through two citizen science projects that have a commitment to combining social values with scientific practice. I will then describe the explicitly countercultural organisation, Science for the People, which arose from within the scientific community itself, out of opposition to the Vietnam War. Methodological and conceptual weaknesses in the authoritative model of science are explored, suggesting that there is an opportunity for citizen science to become anti-hegemonic by challenging the hegemony of science itself. This reformulation will be expressed through Deleuze and Guattari's notion of nomadic science, the means through which citizen science could become countercultural.

Waste not: Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse and the heterogeneous documentary film score

This essay considers music’s interpretive functions in Varda’s 2008 documentary Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse. The film’s score references the director’s collaborative history with other composers throughout her career. In particular, the author is interested in what Varda’s musical collaborations can tell us about her creative process and her own sense of authorship. The author also claims that Les Glaneurs’ musical selections allow the filmmaker to aurally signify her reflections about the state of contemporary French citizenship. Thus, this essay considers how Les Glaneurs uses French popular music to reflect on the cultural and political significance of economically marginalized French citizens who steal out of economic necessity. The author will attend to the formal construction of the film’s heterogeneous score and discuss the musical contributions from three of Varda’s frequent collaborators, along with Varda’s participation. In doing so, the author argues that Les Glaneurs’ score gives us a fuller understanding of the director’s use of the term ‘gleaning’ in relation to her work as a filmmaker.

The Bosnian Triangle: Ethnicity, Politics and Citizenship

This paper aims to analyse contemporary citizenship issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the context of transition, conflict and identity politics. It tries to contextualize the development of citizenship policies and practices in historical perspective and to assess the current state of affairs. It extends the claim that citizenship in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been set within a triangle of social and political relations in which ethnic identity and politics play the other two sides. This triangle - citizenship, ethnic identity and politics - represents key anchor points around which discussions on the Bosnian statehood revolve. The paper also provides a historical overview of citizenship in Bosnia and Herzegovina in different phases, including a detailed account of the current citizenship regime.