Proactive Citizenship Research Articles

That other pandemic: COVID-19 as Bogeyman and the rise of urban dystopias

This survey and analysis of accounts from different countries show how the initial global decline of Covid-19 has been shadowed by the prolongation of instrumental usages of the pandemic that threatens to impede, or even reverse the restoration of societal functioning. This is especially true in cities, where government action upon dense populations is more visible and likely to be felt by citizens. By comparing and categorizing such instrumentalization vis-à-vis theorizing on the way states (or state proxies) determine when ‘states of exception’ exist, this research demonstrates that the recruitment of Covid-19 as a bogeyman of sorts initiates slippage into dystopian urban conditions. The study also shows that such improvisations of public health crises can be located in politics-cum-media discourses, and that information and resource-access asymmetries, insufficient technical capacities and pre-existing vulnerabilities need to be addressed not only through medical intervention, but through clear-headed policies and proactive citizenship in order to dispel negative advantage-seeking behaviors in the face of a shifting pandemic scenario.

From the Myth ofSelf-Governmentto the Rise ofHoloptism: Another Genealogy of Liberal Governmentality

AbstractA long-standing critique of liberalism is that it is both amoral and anti-communitarian. Bound to the totemic figures of the Law and the Market, the “liberal art of governing” is unable to conceive of social regulations outside this twin rational framework. However, the 1990s saw the international dissemination of State managerial reform—embodied by the slogan “doing better with less”—where entrepreneurial practices coexist with participatory and decentralizing policies. In the context of State redeployment, an emerging strategy is evolving as economic neoliberalism merges with cooperative liberalism inspired by the American myth of self-government. By establishing a genealogy for this other side of liberal governmentality, this paper demonstrates how contemporary neo-progressivism emphasizes “holoptic” technologies. By encouraging a “proactive citizenship” through moral and community coercion, holoptic technologies can provide new resources to resurgent authoritarianism. Thus, the study of governmentality within the field of international political sociology should take into account a power architecture that is based on the local scale and implemented by States in a context of convergence of global political orders.

Citizen participation and its impact on the management model of the decentralized autonomous municipal government of Quevedo

The objective of this research is to evaluate citizen participation that allows the implementation of a new management model of the Municipality of Canton Quevedo, where there is a more proactive citizenship in the formulation, planning, execution and control of public policies, the research will detect the shortcomings of neighborhood leaders in citizen participation. The universe of the research will be through a census of 112 presidents of neighborhood councils in the different urban parishes of Quevedo Canton and also the mayor, councilors and officials of the Municipal Decentralized Autonomous Government of Quevedo Canton. Inductive and deductive methods will be used to obtain the information. The results will allow identifying the key to improve the performance of neighborhood leaders in the use of citizen participation mechanisms and the management model of the Municipal Decentralized Autonomous Government of Quevedo.

Grassroots innovations as salutogenic practices in a slum of Medellín

Abstract Background WHO pointed out urbanization as one of the main troubles and defiances for public health in the 21st century because of the increasing urban health inequalities. The United Nations SDGs 11 promotes local strategies to create environments that expand the resources of a healthier, sustainable, livable for life. Basically, grassroots innovation practices (GIP) are shown as boosters and leading figures of urban social transformation in Slums. On average, 20% in Medellin live in Slums with poverty conditions extremely high. Methods In 2018, a qualitative case study focused on urban health and salutogenesis was carried out using an interpretative scope by communitarian narrative explanation building analysis. 32 participants, inhabitants and founders of the Slum, mainly adults, were involved in semi-structured Interviews, Photovoice and Mapping of Community Assets. All ethical aspects were conceived to respect the voices on the struggles for being renowned as part of the city. Results El Faro built on a settlement space by its residents through a process which they have called 'dignity and resistance' has transform as a consequence of a set of drivers of four GIP developed around the community. Among them, water management, creation of public space and artistic training. GIP have mobilized community health assets, allowing the development of an important sense of community coherence (SoC-C), with which the community faces their situation of poverty, modifying the conditions that reproduce it and setting up coherent experiences. Conclusions GIP are configured as an alternative response to local needs and structural limitations and confrontations. SOC-C has contributed to generate health and well-being, through a process of empowerment that promotes a critical, reflective and proactive citizenship in front of its environment. New research based on salutogenesis is needed as a spotlight institutional governance strategy to bottom up housing public policies. Key messages SOC-C generates mobilization of own community health assets to face the local situation of poverty in a bottom up process; alluring meaningful processes and raising social cohesion experiences. Social and urban transformation from the community are possible and attributable to a result of grassroots innovation practices.

Una mirada hacia los procesos horizontales y emancipatorios en el acto educativo

Este texto presenta una reflexión sobre el papel del acto educativo como elemento de comprensión en la formación de ciudadanos críticos y propositivos de su ser y estar en el mundo. Para dicha reflexión, se constituye como punto de encuentro el libro: El maestro ignorante del profesor francés Jacques Rancière. Así es que, en la primera parte del texto se expone la discusión conceptual que existe en dicho libro, como lo son las relaciones docentes y estudiante, enseñanza y aprendizaje, atontamiento y emancipación. Seguidamente, se abordan las concepciones sobre una educación que se propenda por espacios horizontales, humanistas y emancipatorios. El punto central da importancia a pensar los procesos de aprendizaje desde la mirada del profesor Rancière, inquiriendo en otros textos significativos de reflexión como los de Bauman y Bourdieu. Finalmente, se aborda la necesidad de propiciar en el contexto educativo una pedagogía emancipadora, que construya procesos de aprendizaje a partir del diálogo, la capacidad de asombro y la cooperación, partiendo de otras enunciaciones filosóficas y pedagógicas, como las de Gadamer y Freire.

Public libraries and visual narrative: inclusive readings and good practices

Public libraries are traditional safeguards of democracy, where books sustain the empowerment of communities. International scientific literature provides evidence for the fact that in suburban areas and border territories around the world these institutions qualify as open spaces, education laboratories, strong enough to counteract the area’s educational poverty and to favour an intercultural dialogue. This entry’s aim is to promote the role of public libraries in protecting the rights of everyone, especially children, to be an active part of a community, fostering a journey towards a proactive citizenship. The purpose is to locate tools and methodologies that qualify these spaces, strengthening their educational rather than their preservative dimension. In this regard significant educational experiences that give value to visual narrative will be presented. Specifically, this will feature wordless picture books as a starting point for intercultural encounters, defining the role of social educators better by building inclusive routes through these kinds of books.

Medios alternativos en pro de la diversidad cultural en el marco de la Unión Europea: el caso de la red Youth4Media

This research includes the work that is being done by the international organization Youth4Media. It is about training to European youngsters in the audiovisual field. Always through the prism of cultural diversity. Seminars, camps, awards and the launch of an open TV channel are some of the activities that the network performs in different countries of the European Union and in which the author participated as a trainer and as an assistant. Through direct observation, interviewing of project managers and the documental review, this article aims to show the importance of this type of non-formal educational activities for building a tolerant Europe and proactive citizenship that identifies with the values of continental union.

Education for Peace in Northern Ireland and the USA

Reviewed here are approaches to peacebuilding citizenship education in Northern Ireland and the USA, where social education has been responding to intergroup and structural violence. Strategies for peacebuilding have been developed and implemented in response to societal conflicts, government mandates, and available funding. Government support for peace initiatives in Northern Ireland is greater than in the USA, although they both are emphasizing the importance of citizenship education. In recognition of the pivotal position they have as model peacebuilders while educating children, this paper considers teachers' own citizenship training and experiences. Recommendations for teacher preparation and instructional guidelines follow the review of peace-oriented social education, as well as research on training educators and their students for proactive citizenship and democracy in contexts of multifaceted violence.

Proactive Citizenship and Service Learning at Anoka High School

Proactive Citizenship and Service Learning at Anoka High School