Self-Reflection Paper Global Citizenship

Running Head: SELF-REFLECTION PAPER: GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP 1

Self-Reflection Paper: Global Citizenship

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SELF-REFLECTION PAPER: GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP 2

Self-Reflection Paper: Global Citizenship

Introduction

Globalization as a process has taken many years to be realised, and it is still an ongoing

process. Globalization has since become part of human development as it defines both the

economic, cultural and political lives of people across the world (Armstrong, 2006). Through

globalisation, things that happen in one country are seen to have direct or indirect effects on

other states. Globalization has created a world that is interrelated such that a nation cannot

survive on its own despite being a sovereign state as Armstrong (2006) puts it. The

interconnection between sovereign countries across the globe creates an environment of

interdependence between the citizens of these states. The interdependency shows that the

interests of citizens across the world are all the same and hence the need for a global thinking.

The term global citizenship can describe the concept of the global thinking.

Global citizenship aims at bringing the citizenship concept into a worldwide view

(Armstrong, 2006). Global citizenship is a term used to cover all the political, the economic, the

environmental and the social actions of all the global-minded people. Global citizenship is

embedded in the responsibility of every individual in contributing to the global issues and

developing a world that is safe and habitable for every person (Fairbrass, 2002). Global

citizenship is a contested point of view with various researchers critiquing its applicability while

others are maintaining that it can work to promote global peace and sustainability. Therefore, the

paper herein covers my self-reflection about global citizenship. The paper provides my initial

view about global citizenship, my current view and how the global citizenship class has changed

my view about this concept. In the paper, I also offer my opinion as to why the concept can be

applied in promoting global peace and sustainability.

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In many occasions, activists and people from different states have been seen coming

together in solidarity with other states in issues that affect them. The concept of global citizenry

started way in 1999 when activists from all over the world come together to join the

demonstrations in Seattle (Bashir & Gray, 2015). The same has also been in seen in the recent

terrorist attacks in France and the United States where people from all parts of the world come

together in solidarity with the victims of the terrorist attacks showing the development of global

citizenry. Therefore, to understand the concept of the global citizenry it is important first to

define citizenship. Citizenship can be defined as a sense of identity that one acquires for

belonging to a certain sovereign state (Bashir & Gray, 2015). According to Bashir & Gray

(2015), the term citizenship has certain legal and domestic overtones and is wrapped in rights

and obligations which owe allegiance to a particular sovereign state. The term “citizen” should

be distinguished from the term “nation” for one to get a better understanding of the concept of

global citizenship. Citizenship according to the ancient Greek’s definition is tied to the

emergence of a member of a polity who enjoys specific privileges and duties (Bashir & Gray,

2015). Citizenship is bound with legal issues that identify an individual as being a member of a

particular state. However, when talking about the global citizenship, the concept changes since

no legal framework governs this kind of citizenships.

Therefore, the definition of global citizenship can be restricted to the responsibility of an

individual towards meeting global objectives (Galpin, 2013). Global citizens also do not enjoy

any privileges as in the case of national citizenship hence making the concept a contested point

of view among most researchers. However, from the viewpoint of this course, I have been able to

learn the different perspectives in which global citizenship can be defined to bring meaning to

the concept. According to the course material, the idea of global citizenship explains the need to

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have a general global view of the world as a home for all of us plus everything under the

universe which is also the same as the one presented by Tully (2014). Therefore, global

citizenship mainly talks about the collective responsibility of people across the world to create a

world that is friendly, safe and peaceful for all species putting in mind that we all depend on it

for survival irrespective of the nationality of an individual.

According to Temel (2016), global citizenship is based on the fact that the events in one

state are likely to affect the well being of other people in other parts of the world. Therefore,

there should be a collective responsibility to protect the welfare of every individual across the

world. However, this definition differs with my initial view about global citizenship. My initial

view about global citizenship was that it is a way of allowing people from different nations to

transact freely across the borders through the formation of the regional organisations. However,

after learning this course and reading the view presented by the course material, my definition of

global citizenship has changed significantly and now looks at the concept more broadly than

before. My current definition of global citizenship focuses on the collective responsibility of all

humans in promoting a global kind of thinking as suggested by Temel (2016). The definitions

echo the one presented by UNESCO that we are tied together as citizens of the global

community. My view of the concept is that as the citizens of the global community we are tied

by same challenges, and therefore, we should come together as people with the same objectives

to create a better world. I now view global citizenship a sense of humanity rather than a sense of

belonging to a particular geographic area or political state.

Despite having heard about the concept of global citizenship, I did not take a keen

interest in looking at the definition of the concept. However, I always thought that it meant

allowing people to have many citizenship identities allowing them to transact business as well as

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live in more than one country across the world. I thought it involved giving people the freedom

to live and work in different countries without any restrictions. However, I was not certain about

my definition since I did not make any attempt to research the meaning of the term and hence I

had ambivalent feelings about the accuracy of my definition.

The new definition of the concept is more convincing and has been supported by various

authors who maintain that global citizenship is about promoting humanity among the entire

world population. The world faces common challenges irrespective of the nation where one

comes from the common citizens are faced with similar issues that call for action. Ordinary

people from all corners of the world face common challenges such as poverty, hunger, disease

and insecurity which require a joint approach by every citizen to help in finding solutions

(Kayisoglu, 2016).

According to Fairbrass (2002), Julius Nyerere the former president of Tanzania

mentioned that youths should now rise beyond the politics and exercise their sovereign rights as

the citizens of the planet rather than as citizens of just one nation. He stated that young people

should rise and save the current and the coming generations from hunger, poverty and AIDs

epidemic (Fairbrass, 2002). From Julius Nyerere's statement, one can understand that global

citizenship is more about getting the freedom to freely move from one corner of the earth to the

other but is about global unity for the interest of humanity. Global citizenship focused on the

specific issues that affected the world such as the destruction of the environment, the world’s

economic and political challenges that are likely to affect the existence of both the current and

future generations (Fairbrass, 2002). The latter are some of the concepts that changed my view

about global citizenship as I continued to read more about the subject.

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The new definition of global citizenship is further explained by several scholars as I

discuss in the following text. Most of the global activists, world leaders, politicians, academics

and journalists also mention that we live in an interdependent environment and the actions of one

state are likely to impact other states as Armstrong (2006) highlights. The world has also been

called a single community of fate due to its shared challenges and fortunes which are necessary

for the survival of all that live on earth (Jooste & Heleta, 2017). The changing definitions and

views of economic and political action across the world suggest that the concept of citizenship

will soon change its meaning.

Many researchers predict that the dominant approach of nation-state citizenship will soon

disintegrate from being a political identity and power to a global concept (Jooste & Heleta,

2017). The idea of state citizenship is likely to lose meaning due to the growing transnational

identities and the mass migration, the global economy as well as the global view of peace and

prosperity. The political identity that is associated with the nation-state citizenship has been seen

to fade as the inversion of multiple citizenships takes shape. However, the coming of the

multiple nationalities is unlikely to do away with sovereign states and change the concept of

citizenship into one that goes beyond the political identity with a country but to one that

identifies with the humanity (Altikulaç, 2016). The advocates of global citizenship maintain that

the same factors that have led to the fading of the national citizenship are likely to push for the

viewing of the world as one community with the same goals, objectives and one that faces same

challenges.

The world is opening up to more solidarities and common view as compared to the

exclusionist form of national citizenship as noted by Cavalcanti & Ching (2017). However, many

people have contested the factors that constitute the global citizenry. According to Cavalcanti &

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Ching (2017), the global citizenship is marked with three components that govern its form. The

forms include a cosmopolitan, having a universal system of human rights, a set of duties

additional to the national citizenship duties and finally having a world-wide democratic system

or the global civil society. The proposal of the form of global citizenship still emphasises the

global responsibility. The global responsibility concept maintains that every person on earth has

the right and the responsibility to create a peaceful, sustainable and safe world for all to live

(Reysen & Hackett, 2017). The points of view presented by various authors about global

citizenship has a played a significant role in shaping my current opinion about the topic and its

applicability in as far as global issues are concerned.

For example, when we discussed anthropocene in class, my view about the relationship

between man and the planet earth changed. Anthropocene, in this case, was explained as a

concept that talked about the effect of man on the planet. The Anthropocene concept was

developed by the geologists and the environmentalists to explain how man has succeeded in

changing the world (Steffen, Crutzen & McNeill, 2007). The term explains how humans have

changed the entire ecosystem through his activities which has led to the extinction of many

organisms including plants, animal species, caused pollution to oceans and altered the

atmosphere (Steffen, Crutzen & McNeill, 2007). The concept highlights the need for a collective

responsibility to help save the world from complete extinction which is likely to occur if the

activities of humans are not controlled. When the class discussed these issues, I reflected on the

need to have a responsible human race that cares about the existence of the entire universe and

not only people who care about their gains. The discussions about the climate change,

sustainable development among other global issues also played a role in shaping my current view

of global citizenship. I now believe that man being the only species with the capacity to think;

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there is a need for us to think as a block and protect our won habitat through taking a personal

initiative to advocate for sustainability.

As we discussed the global sustainable development in class, we were able to identify the

main challenges that the world faces which include poverty, inequality and injustice, climate

change among others. The topic on sustainable development highlighted the key global

challenges and the need for the world to campaign towards a sustainable political, social and

economic development to deal with these challenges (Wysokinska, 2011). The 2030 Agenda for

Sustainable Development adopted in September 2015 by the world is an indication that the world

exists as a single nation which to some extent supports the point of view of global citizenship.

The seventeen Sustainable Development Goals can only be achieved through a joint approach

and a collective responsibility by acknowledging the importance of promoting sustainable

economic, political and social development (Wysokińska, 2017). Sustainable development

advocates also maintained that promoting global citizenship is the key to creating a generation

that is committed to protecting the limited resources on planet earth as well as keeping the

environment for all the organisms that live in it. A sound approach to a sustainable development

approach promises a future for all and supports all the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda

requirements (Wysokińska, 2017). Reflecting on these explanations and applications of global

citizenship, my view about the concept has significantly changed, and I have started believing in

its importance in creating a just and peaceful world through putting people to task to protect the

earth’s limited resources.

However, despite starting to believe on the concept of global citizenship, I am still not

certain whether it can be practical to implement it in the current global environment. Yes, I

believe that the world requires this kind of concept in solving the challenges that the planet and

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everything living on its face. Just as before, my view about the practicality of the global

citizenship is still mixed due to the difficulty of implementing the idea to help in solving the

world issues. For instance, all sovereign states across the world have their culture and laws that

govern their economic, political and social behaviour that is completely different to other states

hence it would be difficult to have citizens who collective value global issues. Citizenship in its

meaning and application is bound by a set of legal framework and rules which guides its

implementation at the state or national level (Reysen & Hackett, 2017). However, no legal

framework governs the application of the global citizenship which makes not just an abstract

concept that can only remain in books and academic materials.

Also, the concepts of citizenship often have some privileges and rights attached to it that

motivates citizens to take responsibility in implementing some issues affecting them. For

example, in most countries, the sovereignty belongs to the citizens who are given a chance to

make decisions on how they should be governed by choosing their leaders through election or by

creating laws through referendums as (Reysen & Hackett, 2017) mentions. However, this is not

the case in global citizenship as there is no framework where the interests of the global citizens

can be expressed whether through a democratic process or submission. Therefore, implementing

the concept of global citizenship is still a difficult mission which may not see the light of the day

but may remain as an academic concept. As a result, I believe that the concept may not have a

significant impact on my future or the future of the current generation. The concept of global

citizenship may only affect the lives of the next generation if modalities of implementing it will

have been met. However, the establishment of the international law and the United Nations

treaties can come up with a better approach of applying the global citizenry approach in

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promoting individual responsibility on helping to solve the challenges that the world faces

(Jenson, 2007).

Before taking this course, I believed that global citizenship is a difficult concept to

implement in solving the world’s problem and my position has not yet changed. However,

contrary to my previous belief, I now understand that ideally, the world needs the concept of the

global citizenry to solve its main challenges. I believe that as humans we have the sole

responsibility to make the world a better place for all the living organisms that depend on it. I

now also understand that the world is interconnected and interdependent such that the actions of

one state may affect the well being of other nations and hence the need for a collective

responsibility in conserving the planet. Despite being difficult to implement, the global

citizenship course is an important course to the current and the coming generations as it reminds

the young people of their responsibility in protecting the prosperity of the world and promoting

sustainable development.

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References

Altikulaç, A. (2016). Patriotism and Global Citizenship as Values: A Research on Social Studies

Teacher Candidates. Journal Of Education And Practice, 7(36), 26-33.

Armstrong, C. (2006). Global civil society and the question of global citizenship.Voluntas, 17(4),

348-356. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11266-006-9020-6

Bashir, H., & Gray, P. W. (2015). Deconstructing Global Citizenship : Political, Cultural, and

Ethical Perspectives. Lanham: Lexington Books.

Cavalcanti, B. H., & Ching, M. (2017). The Talloires Network and the MacJannet Prize for

Global Citizenship: Explorations on sustainable and innovative leadership. Gateways:

International Journal Of Community Research & Engagement, 108-13.

doi:10.5130/ijcre.v10i0.5566

Fairbrass, S. (2002). Citizenship - or global citizenship? Teaching Business & Economics, 6(3),

42. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/231176829?accountid=45049

Galpin, T., PhD. (2013). Creating a culture of global citizenship. The Journal of Corporate

Citizenship, (49), 34-47. Retrieved from

https://search.proquest.com/docview/1470800604?accountid=45049

Jenson, J. (2007). The european union's citizenship regime. creating norms and building

practices. Comparative European Politics, 5(1), 53-69.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.cep.6110102

Jooste, N., & Heleta, S. (2017). Global Citizenship versus Globally Competent Graduates: A

Critical View from the South. Journal Of Studies In International Education, 21(1), 39-

51.

SELF-REFLECTION PAPER: GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP 12

Kayisoglu, N. B. (2016). Investigation of Global Citizenship Levels of Pre-Service Physical

Education Teachers. Educational Research And Reviews, 11(6), 299-306.

Reysen, S., & Hackett, J. (2017). Activism as a pathway to global citizenship. The Social Science

Journal, 54132-138. doi:10.1016/j.soscij.2016.09.003

Steffen, W., Crutzen, P. J., & McNeill, J. R. (2007). The anthropocene: Are humans now

overwhelming the great forces of nature? Ambio, 36(8), 614-21. Retrieved from

https://search.proquest.com/docview/207670675?accountid=45049

Temel, C. (2016). A Study of Global Citizenship Levels of Turkish University Students

According to Different Variables (Youth Camp Leaders Sample). Educational Research

And Reviews, 11(17), 1689-1695.

Tully, J. (2014). On Global Citizenship : James Tully in Dialogue. London: Bloomsbury

Academic.

Wysokinska, Z. (2011). Sustainable development in the european union and world economy-

main selected aspects. Comparative Economic Research, 14(3), 25.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/v10103-011-0017-z

Wysokińska, Z. (2017). Millenium development Goals/UN and sustainable development

Goals/UN as instruments for realising sustainable development concept in the global

economy. Comparative Economic Research, 20(1), 101-118.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/cer-2017-0006

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