UNIT VII GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

Coverage: Weeks 17
Duration: 3 hours
Learning Objectives: After studying the unit, the students should be able to:
● Define global citizenship
● Distinguish the salient features of global citizenship
● Relates global citizenship with global economy and governance
● Articulate a personal definition of global citizenship

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

Global Citizenship as Defined

As there is no widely accepted definition of global citizenship, oftentimes,
educators use this term loosely. Having been derived from the word city, the term
citizenship tends to suggest allegiance to one’s own country or state. Quitely so, the
concept of citizenship has taken on a new meaning from its historical usage as it has
gone “global”. 227
According to Oxfam International, global citizenship is the idea that, as people,
we are all citizens of the globe who have an equal responsibility for what happens on,
and to our world. 228 This means to say that every global citizen has a duty to address
issues affecting our being citizens. As there could be no formal process to become a
global citizen, holding this citizenship status is something that we all have a right to and
obligation as well.
Given this above definition, citizenship can thus be associated with rights and
obligations. For instance, the right to vote and the obligation to pay taxes. Both rights
and obligations link the individual to the state. It also has to do with our attitude. We
need to be willing to engage and to spend time and effort to the community of which we
feel part of.
Caecilia Johanna van Peski (as cited in Baraldi, 2012) defined global citizenship
“as a moral and ethical disposition that can guide the understanding of individuals or
groups of local and global contexts, and remind them of their relative responsibilities
within various communities.” Global citizens are the glue which binds local communities
together in an increasingly globalized world. In van Peski’s words, “global citizens might
be a new type of people that can travel within these various boundaries and somehow
still make sense of the world”. 229

Salient Features of Global Citizenship

Global citizenship may seem to have far broader meanings than the above given
ones. Equally, it is still important to note its salient features 230 for a better understanding
of this concept.
1. Global citizenship as a choice and a way of thinking
People come to consider themselves as global citizens through various formative
life experiences and have different interpretations of what it means to them. For many,
the practice of global citizenship is primarily exercised at home through engagement in
global issues or with different cultures in a local setting. For others, global citizenship
means firsthand experience with different countries, people and cultures.
2. Global citizenship as self-awareness and awareness of others
Self-awareness helps students identify with the universalities of human
experience, thus increasing their identification with fellow human beings and their sense
of responsibility toward them.
3. Global citizenship as they practice cultural empathy
Cultural empathy or intercultural competence is commonly articulated as a goal
of global education. Intercultural competence occupies a central position in higher
education’s thinking about global citizenship and is seen as an important skill in the
workplace.
4. Global citizenship as the cultivation of principled decision making
Global citizenship entails an awareness of the interdependence of individuals
and systems as well as a sense of responsibility that follows from it. Although the goal
of undergraduate education should not be to impose a correct set of answers, critical
thinking, cultural empathy and ethical systems and choices are an essential foundation
to principled decision making.
5. Global citizenship as participation in the social and political life of one’s community
There are various types of communities that range from local to global, from
religious to political group. Global citizens feel a sense of connection towards their
communities and translate this connection to participation.
Global Citizenship and Globalization
Global citizenship does not automatically entail a single attitude and a particular
value with globalization. We must remember that globalization is not a single
phenomenon; rather, there are many globalizations. They are bound to be multiple
futures for multiple globalizations. These globalizations created enemies because
according to one broad view, globalization failed to deliver its promises. 231 The so-
called bottom billion lacks infrastructures and has been disenfranchised. The opponents
of globalization blame either Westernization or global capitalism. Thus, the enemies
resist globalization, especially when it comes to global economy and global governance.

Global Citizenship and Global Economy

There are three approaches to global economic resistance. Trade protectionism
involves the systematic government intervention in foreign trade through tariffs and non-
tariff barriers in order to encourage domestic producers and deter their foreign
competitors. 232 Although there exists a widespread consensus regarding its inefficiency,
trade protectionism is still popular since it shields the domestic economy from systemic
shocks. Fair trade is a different approach to economic globalization, which emerged as
a counter to neoliberal “free trade” principles. 233
Fair trade aims at a moral and equitable global economic system in which, for
instance, price is not set by the market; instead, it is negotiated transparently by both
producers and consumers. Its ability to supply a mass market and its applicability to
manufacture products are also doubted. The third form of resistance to economic
globalization relates to helping the bottom billion. 234 Increasing aid is only one of the
many measures that is required. International norms and standards can be adapted to
the needs of the bottom billion. The reduction of trade barriers would also reduce the
economic marginalization of these people and their nations.

Global Citizenship and Global Governance

When it comes to dealing with political globalization, increased accountability 235
and transparency are the key issues. All political organizations, at different levels,
should be more accountable for their actions because they are now surrounded by an
“ocean of opacity”.236 Increased transparency has been aided by various mechanism
such as transnational justice systems, international tribunals, civil society and
particularly the Transparency International.
Like globalization, resistance to globalization is multiple, complex, contradictory,
and ambiguous. This movement also has the potential to emerge as the new public
sphere, which may uphold progressive values such as autonomy, democracy, peace,
ecological sustainability, and social justice. These forces of resistance are products of
globalization and can be seen as globalization from below. 237 The impetus for such a
movement comes from individuals, groups and organizations which are oppressed (i.e.,
self-perception) by globalization from above (neoliberal economic systems or
aggressively expanding nations and corporations). They seek a more democratic
process of globalization. However, globalization from below also involves less visible,
more right-wing elements, such as the America First Party and the Taliban. 238
The World Social Forum (WSF) is centered on addressing the lack of democracy
in economic and political affairs. 239 However, the diversity of elements involved in WSF
hinders the development of concrete political proposals. A significant influence on WSF
has been that of cyberactivism, which is based on the “cultural logic of networking” and
“virtual movements”, such as Global Huaren. This cyberpublic was formed as a protest
against the violence, discrimination, and hatred experienced by Chinese residents in
Indonesia after the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In 1998, worldwide rallies condemning
the violence were made possible through the Global Huaren.
Given that there is no world government, the idea of global citizenship demands
the creation of rights and obligations. However, fulfilling the promises of globalization
and the solution to the problems of the contemporary world does not lie on single entity
or individual, but on citizens, the community, and the different organization in societies.
References:
Global Citizenship
227. Global education and global citizenship. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.globalization101.org/global-education-and-global-citizenship/

228. https://issues.tigweb.org/globalcitizenship

229. Baraldi, C. (ed.). (2012). What is global citizenship?Participation, facilitatiton, and meditation:
Children and young people in their social contexts. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge.
230. Schattle, Han. (2007). The Practices of Global Citizenship. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield
Publishers, Inc.

231. Cohen, D. (2006). Globalization and its enemies. MA: MIT Press.

232. McAleese, D. (2007). Trade Protectionism. In Scholte, J. A. & Robertson, R. (eds.) Encyclopedia of
globalization. New York: MTM Publishing.

233. Nicholls, & Opal, C. (2005). Fair trade: Market-driven ethical consumption. London: Sage.

234. Collier, P. (2007). The bottom billion: Why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done
about it. New York: Oxford University Press
235. Germain, R. D. (2004). Globalising accountability within the International Organization of Credit:
Financial governance and the publish sphere. Global Society 18, (3)

236. Holzner, B. & Holzner, L. (2006). Transparency in global change: The vanguard of the open society.
Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

237. Smith, J. (2008). Social movements for global democracy. Baltimore: John Hopkins University
Press.
238. Della Porta, D., Andretta, M., Mosca, L., & Reiter, H. (2006). Globalization from below:
Transnational activists and protest network. Minneapolis: Universityof Minnesota Press.

239. Fisher, W. F. & Ponniah, T. (2003). Another world is possible: Popular alternatives to globalization at
the World Social Forum. London: Zed Books.