What is global citizenship?

human beings always

 form communities based on shared identity: economic,

political, religious, social.

 articulate shared values,

 build governance structures (Ronald C. Israel)

What is global citizenship?

Citizenship
 membership in a political community / legal member of a
sovereign state.
 Greek ideas: equality under the law, civic participation in
government, power restrictions (Hosking, G., 2005)
 to be truly human, one had to be an active citizen (Aristotle)
 rights & duties: political participation, right to vote, right to
receive protection (Leary, V., 2000)
 Classical/ civic humanist conception: citizenship as an active
process, not a passive state (Beiner, R., ed., 1995)
What is global citizenship?

Global Citizenship is a way of living

that recognises our world is an
increasingly complex web of
connections and interdependencies.
One in which our choices and
actions may have repercussions for
people and communities locally,
nationally or internationally.
http://www.ideascotland.users39.interdns.co.uk/
What is global citizenship?

global citizenship: identity with a "global community" above

identity with nation or place. Planetary human community =
interdependent & whole; humankind = essentially one.

a “global citizen is someone who identifies with being part

of an emerging world community and whose actions
contribute to building this community’s values and
practices”(Ronald C. Israel)
What is global citizenship?

Common characteristics of the definitions:

 Recognising complexity and interdependency

 Global dimension – developing global identity
 Community building – one humankind
 Contributing to building community’s values & practices
 Building governance structures
 Building a sustainable values-based world community
Values & responsibility of a global community of
people sharing the same global identity
 human human
rights,rights,
  environmental
environmental protection,
protection,
  religious
religious pluralism,
pluralism,
  gender
gender equity,
equity,
  sustainable
sustainable worldwide
worldwide economic
economic growth,
growth,
  poverty
poverty alleviation,
alleviation,
  prevention
prevention of conflicts
of conflicts between
between countries,
countries and people,
  elimination
elimination of weapons
of weapons of mass
of mass destruction,
destruction,
  humanitarian
humanitarian assistance
assistance,
  preservation
preservation of cultural
of cultural diversity
diversity
Active Citizen Rights: Global Governance

Modern states: systems of political representation at a

distance such as representative democracy. Action is
delegated to others (Isin, E. F.; Bryan S. T., eds., 2002).
Global Decision-making System

United Nations:
 Membership voluntarily
 General Assembly: one vote per member state
 Security Council: 15 members, of which 5 permanent
(China, France, Great Britain, Russia, USA) = veto right
 Specialised Agencies, a.o.:
- World Bank Group: vote related to financial
shares
- World Trade Organisation: one vote per member
(not necessarly states, like EU)
 Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC): Civil Society
Platform = consultative role
Agreements between organisations, such as

Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also called corporate

citizenship or responsible business) / Global Compact =
corporate self-regulation following high ethical standards.

Global Citizens and Global Governance?

Think globally – act locally, nationally and globally