Practice Of Active Citizenship Research Articles

Negotiating senses of belonging and identity across education spaces

AbstractA multitude of educational programs attempt to facilitate young people’s engagement with ideas and practices of active citizenship. For young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or Indigenous people in Australia, such interventions are often subject to complex experiences of senses of belonging and non-belonging. This paper responds to calls from researchers to develop better understandings of young Indigenous people’s own senses and practices of belonging and to better understand the ways in which these perspectives and practices are spatially influenced at the level of local communities, ‘country’ and cultural groupings, and within larger state, national or transnational settings. Their testimonies illustrate the tensions that young Indigenous people must navigate in a settler colony that has never truly recognised Indigenous sovereignty but show that sovereignty remains intact. Focus groups were conducted with 58 young Indigenous people in Melbourne and regional Victoria who were participating in an Indigenous youth leadership program designed to foster formal and informal active citizenship practices, and to nurture a strong, affirming sense of Indigenous identity. The testimonies of these participants provide valuable insights into educational sites as spaces in which young people experience a spectrum of weak to strong senses of belonging. They also provide insights into the possibilities of engaging the challenges faced by many young Indigenous people in educational settings, challenges that include race discordance and exclusion, deficit discourses and gaps and distances in educational practice. They highlight the need to recognise the aspirations of young Indigenous people and the capacities of colonial education systems to meet them, and the imperative to celebrate young Indigenous identities in meaningful, non-tokenistic ways.

Активне громадянство у глобалізованому світі: філософсько-освітні імплікації

In today’s globalized world, the issue of active citizenship is gaining relief, becoming an essential determinant of the nature of civilizational progress. The study examines the possibilities of modern education to develop civic activism. The underestimated potential of lifelong learning as a tool for the development of active citizens has been identified, including opportunities for the development of older citizens. We have demonstrated the potential of the neoliberal model of active citizenship as one that corresponds to the current state of civilizational development, at the heart of which is a person who is aware of his political rights and responsibilities in a multicultural world. It was shown that lifelong learning, the enduring educational trajectory of the individual, should be a practice of developing democratic values and principles of active citizenship, developing skills in working with sources of information, initiative, responsibility, knowledge of social principles, and the role of citizens in it, etc. The article carries out a historical and philosophical reconstruction of views on the issue of active citizenship. The dynamics of the content of the above concept are demonstrated. It was possible to outline methodological guidelines that allow interpreting active citizenship as an educational ideal, based on some modern methodological positions (lifelong learning, etc.). The study demonstrates the shortcomings of the methodological position, according to which the competence of active citizenship, for the most part, is the result of educational influence in the system of secondary and higher education. Possibilities of the fruitful combination of formal and non-formal education in the development of active citizenship are demonstrated. The symbiosis allows providing the necessary praxeological dimension (combination of theory and practice of active citizenship) to the processes of becoming an active citizen in the current challenges of civilization.

Propositions for the emancipatory potential of urban spectacle

During the last few decades, the role of the spectacle within urban settings has produced groundbreaking research, mainly in Euro-American and Southeast Asian settings. However, its full potential to account for creative forms of encounter and political engagement has not by and large been part of the rich scholarship on cities, particularly with regard to regions lacking full democratic rights. Toward this end, this article investigates the emancipatory potential of urban spectacle as an anchor for new forms of dissent by groups without access to conventional political channels. Specifically, it explores how, in the early 2000s, pro-Kurdish parties in Turkey, who were either banned by the state or denied access to parliament by targeted legal restrictions, used urban spectacle to develop a mass oppositional movement. In the southern city of Diyarbakır, these groups organized a number of themed mass demonstrations and urban festivals, such as the movement of civil disobedience and Newroz festivals, to enhance their public visibility, create new opportunities for popular mobilization, and support practices of active citizenship. The article concludes that an awareness of the emancipatory potential of urban spectacle can contribute to understanding the multiple dimensions of public space and its relationship to democratic action.

Active citizenship and austerity: A Dutch–French comparison of policy, civil society and education

Abstract While several analyses sustain that the declining support for democracy is related to ‘the very fact that external actors were imposing policies from outside’, this article comparing policy, civil society and education in France and the Netherlands emphasizes the role of national tradition in the ways this outside pressure is translated in the national context, and the ways the political effects are expressed. Before trying to assess the effects of the economic crisis on the policies and practices of active citizenship and showing differences between France and the Netherlands, the article sketches more precisely the main features and recent events of Dutch and French political life to understand the context and meaning of active citizenship and citizenship education in both countries.

Ethical-Moral Courses of Action and Active Citizenship in Health Students

Introduction: The practice of active citizenship, ethical-moral courses of action and civic, moral and ethics education are essentials for ethical decision making in health. Objetive: To determine if gender influences students’ ethical- moral course of action. Methods: Descriptive study with a non-probabilistic sample of 85 students enrolled in the 1st cycle of the health degree. Results: Of the participants surveyed 61.2% were found to say that action should take into account their moral principles, with ethical/ moral subjectivism prevailing; 44.7% consider that one should “Do what will have the best consequences for the greatest number of people”, with the principle of utilitarianism being significant; 55.3% think that “An action is ethically good” if “It is in accordance with morality”, thereby highlighting subjectivism/relativism; 45.9% believe that “ethical-moral values” “are relative and vary from society to society” agreeing with relativism as an explanatory principle for action. Males showed a greater tendency to support their decision-making with the principle of objectivism, (Fischer=.010). Conclusion: The results suggest that students’ ethical-moral education is required to promote an ethical-moral course of action in their professional practice. Thus, universities with their health courses should be at the forefront of this education, making their graduates ambassadors/interveners of a way of knowing and of being as well as promoters of the dignity of the citizen of the modern world.

Practices of active citizenship among migrant youth: beyond conventionalities

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses the empirical manifestations of the notion of active citizenship in the context of the experiences of migrant youth. It focuses on the practices of active citizenship through involvement in social networks and creative civic engagement. In doing so, the article examines the complex and multi-faceted nature of social networking among migrant youth and the extent to which their approach to engagement is dependent on the specificities of the local environment, the type of social issues involved, and the cultural norms of one's own cultural heritage. Key empirical insights are derived from quantitative and qualitative research conducted among migrant youth of African, Arabic-speaking and Pacific Island backgrounds in Australia. These empirical insights are used to examine the changing perceptions of active citizenship among migrant youth, and the possibilities offered through non-traditional networks to engender civic engagement and social participation.

The practices of active citizenship as medium of social innovation: the Social Plan for Disability in SdS North-West Florence as case study

The paper presents an analysis on the use of the ICF-CY in the network of local services who deal with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It has been done before, refer to the epistemological bases that characterize the classification system of the World Health Organization and, later, we considered the factors relevant to the marketability services that relate to the developmental age. Regarding the ASD, in fact, the ICF-CY is an instrument capable of synthesizing the information obtained from the paths of assessment of health profiles of autistic individuals, in order to program interventions to facilitate personal autonomy and / or social inclusion. The paper proposes the outcome of the experience gained in the period 2011-2014, within a network of social/health services and education in the Abruzzo Region.

Metis, craft, civic mindedness: essential attributes of democratic citizenship in communities

The promise of democracy rests on the practice of active citizenship. Historically, local government has been a key incubator of civic leadership. In recent decades, however, community fortunes have grown increasingly dependent on economic and policy decisions made elsewhere. Has the concentration of power in corporations and the state undermined the practice of local citizenship? Using data from two decades of field research in California communities, I argue that citizenship is alive if not entirely well in California communities, often taking unconventional or less heralded forms. The paper draws on democratic theory to articulate three essential attributes of democratic citizenship: metis (prudent knowledge), craft (skilled practice), and civic mindedness (sociable sensibility). It then provides examples of these attributes as they shape citizenship practices within welfare-to-work and local food systems networks. Finally, it suggests lessons for community developers interested in deepening the practice of democratic citizenship in contemporary communities.

Human rights and collective emancipation: The politics of food sovereignty

AbstractThis article develops contextually grounded accounts of emancipation in general and notions of collective rights based emancipation in particular by identifying a form of emancipatory politics in which collectives demand rights for themselves. The article develops the idea of collective, rights based emancipation by focusing on the practices of two related social movements, the Landless Workers Movement (MST) and la Via Campesina. The MST and Via Campesina seek to replace existing rights to ‘food security’ with a human right to ‘food sovereignty’. While food security agendas emphasise the role of international governance agencies in providing food on behalf of others, food sovereignty is secured by peasant social movements themselves. Furthermore, practices of active citizenship and democratic organisational structures, built through the grassroots and transnational struggles through which peasants raise their demand for human rights, are vital in enacting rights to food sovereignty. In instances where victims are not entirely silenced and powerless, this combination of a demand for human rights and the development of practices of citizenship that enable people to demand and secure rights for themselves provides a contextually grounded emancipatory alternative to interventionist politics that, however well intentioned, risk reinforcing the dependence of purportedly powerless victims.

Framing Civic Engagement, Political Participation and Active Citizenship in Europe

This book evaluates the role that civic engagement, political participation and active citizenship can play in promoting the establishment of a European polity. The chapters included here examine how the practice of active citizenship is managed and constructed in the context of a European drive to increase civic engagement and political participation in three member states (Portugal, Italy and the UK) and one accession country (Turkey). Looking at both processes and policies promoting active citizenship at the European and national levels, this book uncovers current discourses as well as political priorities and values that surround the activities of non- governmental organizations (NGOs). Of particular interest are debates about the nature and level of civic and political participation and engagement of marginal groups (women, youths, migrants and minorities) as they are particularly vulnerable to social exclusion. The book focuses on the interaction between institutions and civil society actors, addressing a number of questions related to their reciprocal role in influencing, shaping, criticising or disregarding certain political priorities.

Active Citizenship: An Empirical Investigation

This paper reports on a study of what active citizenship means from the perspective of citizens who are active within third sector organisations. It is based on an empirical study involving 1,610 respondents across 11 towns in six countries. The study explored how active citizenship is manifested, by gathering data on attitudes towards social changes and the forms and practices of active citizenship. There are two major, and apparently contradictory themes emerging in the data. The first theme provides a portrait of active engagement, proactively, and sometimes oppositionally working for a better world. On the other hand, citizens by and large avoid active oppositional engagement in the political process. They prefer to work collaboratively with government and to work at the local level. This second theme can be understood as social maintenance, support for existing structures that facilitates community cohesion, while providing relief for the disadvantaged, often with a conservative charity or welfare orientation. Following the work of Touraine, the study revealed how citizens act at the local rather than the national level, and focus on concrete issues and interpersonal relations rather than political action aimed at wider policy change. While this form of citizenship action can reflect a conservative form of maintenance, it is equally a creative new form of association and mutual support.

Active Citizenship and Effective Public Services and Programmes: How Can We Know What Really Works?

This paper is a review of the aims and practice of active citizenship in England. It sets out the key concepts and gives an account of the developing policy agenda in crime, regeneration and housing, education, health and local government. It reviews the current state of scientific knowledge in this area, in particular summarising research commissioned by the Home Office Civil Renewal Research Programme, 2004-05. Whilst the research findings show the positive contribution of government initiatives in this area, a key theme that emerges is that the policy context and the causal relationships are often more complex than advocates sometimes claim.

Social cohesion and integration: learning active citizenship

This article starts from a conceptual clarification of the notions social integration and social cohesion as a prerequisite for the reorientation of citizenship education. Turning away from uncritically reproduced assumptions represented in mainstream ‘deficiency discourse’, the article first focuses on sociological conditions for the rise of active citizenship and its role in the revitalization of the public sphere. Next a number of educational objectives are deduced from competencies needed and learning processes taking place in practices of active citizenship. Finally, the article argues for the adoption of a lifelong learning perspective, relating formal citizenship education to informal and non‐formal experiences of active citizenship.