Global Citizenship

Global citizenship is a term used to describe the promotion of a global-centric manner of thinking, in which people consider themselves to be citizens of the world rather than of individual nations. Although the term can have many connotations, it is perhaps used most often in conjunction with a broad concept of global advocacy, in which a person identifies with an international community of like-minded individuals seeking to improve the world. In this context, the term is meant to convey a philosophical belief rooted in being globally minded—that is, being culturally aware and respectful of people from all backgrounds—while making positive contributions to the welfare of the planet. However, it may also have a broader meaning in which people simply recognize and understand the increasing interconnectedness of people around the world.

Definition

The idea of global citizenship is usually associated with people seeking to make positive changes in the world. The term is fixed in the belief that citizenship as a concept comes with a set of necessary duties. As all people are "citizens" of Earth, every person is therefore required to fulfill their requisite obligations to it. However, the definition and resulting requirements of citizenship may vary from person to person.

Nigel Dower and John Williams, in the introduction to their book Global Citizenship: A Critical Introduction (2002), argue that global citizenship can be broken down into ethical and citizen components. The ethical aspect of global citizenship asks that people consider the proper stewardship of Earth and its many residents. The obligations required from this component of global citizenship may be fulfilled through activism intended to bring about a better, more cooperative existence for everyone. It is in this role that global citizenship is most often considered.

Dower and Williams define the other component of global citizenship—the citizen component—as akin to being a citizen of a traditional nation. This aspect is more concerned with establishing a collective foundation similar to those grounded in the laws and constitutions of nations. While Dower and Williams suggest that there are aspects of these systems in global organizations such as the United Nations, international charities, multinational corporations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), no true global governing body exists, thereby bringing into question the feasibility of becoming an actual global citizen. Instead, people are ultimately ruled by the government of the nation in which they live. In addition, the movements of people for economic, social, or humanitarian reasons remains limited. National boundaries remain fixed, thereby limiting the ability of people to truly live and travel as global citizens.

The definition of global citizenship remains ambiguous, however, and sometimes is merely intended to promote a more multicultural worldview with regard to education, travel, or culture. Additionally, the field of global studies is dedicated to exploring how the increasing globalization of the world affects the political, economic, environmental, and social relationships between various cultures. The role of global citizenship is often an important component of these studies.

Objectives of Global Citizenship

Many people who identify as global citizens view themselves as citizens of both the world and their native country. By professing their interest in creating a global community, they are not disavowing their own cultural or national identity. Rather, they believe that many of the world’s problems cannot be resolved through the efforts of a single government, but rather require action from a plurality of committed nations willing to make a difference without regard to national boundaries.

Many aspects of the global citizenship movement are rooted in sustainability and improving the welfare of the world's most vulnerable people. This movement uses values-based advocacy that is oriented toward improving the civil, environmental, and political rights of all people.

The idea of global citizenship seeks to promote the belief in the interconnectedness of people in an era in which technology has reduced the physical boundaries separating them. This globalization of contemporary society has highlighted the interdependency of all people, despite the nationalist impulses that often drive political action. The fundamental principles underlying global citizenship, however, advocate not for an end to national boundaries but rather for a starting point of cooperation. Adopting a worldview that acknowledges these growing connections between all peoples theoretically enables global citizens to anticipate how their actions might affect others.

Participating in activist campaigns that promote sustainability or volunteering to help people in other countries through charitable contributions or direct action are the types of activities that satisfy the ethical component of global citizenship. Fulfilling the needs of the citizen component are more difficult for an individual. Instead, this aspect asks that governments, corporations, and international institutions—all of which may be spurred to action by individual advocacy—act in manners that promote solutions to problems that are fair to everyone. For the nations of the global community, this involves peace treaties, environmental pacts, and the willingness of countries to accept refugees on humanitarian grounds. For multinational businesses, it means advocating for corporate responsibility and engaging in philanthropic practices. For NGOs, engaging in global citizenship requires proactive humanitarian campaigns that help the disadvantaged among the global community.

One of the primary objectives of the global citizenship movement is to provide educational platforms that enable students to understand the needs of all people and to think on a global scale. Such programs—called global citizen education, or GCED—are intended to assist children and young adults in gaining valuable perspectives about the growing interconnectedness of the global community. GCED is part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO's) education sector program for 2014–21. UNESCO promotes GCED in tandem with education for sustainable development (ESD), noting that "both prioritize the relevance and content of education in order to ensure that education helps build a peaceful and sustainable world. . . [and] emphasize the need to foster the knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and behaviours that allow individuals to take informed decisions and assume active roles locally, nationally and globally."

Criticism

Although those who engage in and advocate global citizenship have the best of intentions, there are many who criticize the theory, the practice, or both. For one thing, many critics note, as long as countries exist, it is impossible to be an actual global citizen. Others have criticized the movement's effectiveness, while some in the United States bemoan the ways that it has worked to undermine American exceptionalism, particularly in the minds of young people and on college campuses. Additional critics have pointed out that global activism that looks to help the world's poor but does not address the political and socioeconomic conditions that made them poor are not doing sufficient work to solve these problems.

Political theorist and UK House of Lords member Bhikhu Parekh has promoted what he calls "globally oriented" citizenship, which he aligns with internationalism, while criticizing the idea of global citizenship, which he aligns with cosmopolitanism. "Internationalism," he claims, "respects the basic moral impulses lying at the heart of nationalism and cosmopolitanism while avoiding their pathologies. . . . Cosmopolitanism ignores special ties and attachments to one's community, is too abstract to generate the emotional and moral energy needed to live up to its austere imperatives, and can also easily become an excuse for ignoring the well-being of the community one knows and can directly influence in the name of an unrealistic pursuit of the abstract ideal of universal well-being. This . . . has the further consequence of provoking a defensive reaction in the form of narrow nationalism." He then offers an alternative: "Since the conditions of life of our fellow human beings in distant parts of the world should be a matter of deep moral and political concern to us, our citizenship has an inescapable global dimension, and we should aim to become what I might call a globally oriented citizen. A global or cosmopolitan citizen, one who claims to belong to the whole world, has no political home and is in a state of . . . 'voluntary exile.' By contrast a globally oriented citizen has a valued home of his own, from which he reaches out to and forms different kinds of alliances with others having homes of their own." However, it is important to note that Parekh's definition of "globally oriented citizenship" is not dissimilar to many self-professed global citizens' own definitions of global citizenship.

Bibliography

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"What You Need to Know About Global Citizenship Education." UNESCO, 27 May 2024, www.unesco.org/en/global-citizenship-peace-education/need-know. Accessed 27 Jan. 2025.