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Societies
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Citizenship Education and Civil Society
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Citizenship Education and Civil Society

A special issue of Societies (ISSN 2075-4698).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 March 2020) | Viewed by 22073

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Ben Kisby

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Social and Political Sciences, College of Social Science, University of Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK
Interests: British politics; public policy; citizenship education; citizenship theory; political participation; social capital

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Contemporary societies face a range of challenges, including: climate change; poverty; wealth, income, and other forms of social inequality; human rights abuses; misinformation and fake news; the growth of populist movements; and citizen disenchantment with democratic politics. Citizenship education, properly conceived, seeks to address issues of general concern through both individual and collective action. A key aim is to enhance citizens’ levels of political knowledge and understanding, and to educate citizens as actors in civil society so as to promote critical and active citizenship, with citizens able to develop their capacities to engage in civic and political activities to bring about social changes they wish to see.

This Special Issue on ‘Citizenship Education and Civil Society’ will explore how current forms of citizenship education in different societies, in both formal and informal educational contexts, are, or are not, contributing positively to citizens’ levels of political knowledge, understanding, and efficacy. It is concerned with questions such as: What role can and should citizenship education play in pluralistic, liberal democratic societies? Can it successfully promote common values and overcome intolerance and discrimination? What are its strengths and limitations in practice? The Special Issue welcomes theoretical and empirical contributions from a range of disciplinary perspectives that address these, and other pertinent, questions, and that draw on evidence and examples from subnational, national, international, or comparative contexts. Contributions are welcome from scholars, practitioners, and activists across a variety of settings.

Dr. Ben Kisby
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as conceptual papers are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Societies is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Editorial

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2 pages, 147 KiB  
Editorial
Citizenship Education and Civil Society
by Ben Kisby
Societies 2021, 11(1), 11; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/soc11010011 - 28 Jan 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1878
Abstract
Contemporary societies face a range of important challenges, including: climate change; poverty; wealth, income, and other forms of social inequality; human rights abuses; misinformation and fake news; the growth of populist movements; and citizen disenchantment with democratic politics [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Citizenship Education and Civil Society)

Other

Jump to: Editorial

19 pages, 1370 KiB  
Concept Paper
Enacting Critical Citizenship: An Intersectional Approach to Global Citizenship Education
by Maayke de Vries
Societies 2020, 10(4), 91; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/soc10040091 - 26 Nov 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 5469
Abstract
Global citizenship is a popular concept that was fully embraced by UNESCO in 2015 with a framework for Global Citizenship Education (GCE). This pedagogical guidance can be characterized as transformative since it aims to foster reflective citizens who contribute to building a more [...] Read more.
Global citizenship is a popular concept that was fully embraced by UNESCO in 2015 with a framework for Global Citizenship Education (GCE). This pedagogical guidance can be characterized as transformative since it aims to foster reflective citizens who contribute to building a more inclusive, just, and peaceful world. Thus, GCE allows educators to take a critical approach to their teaching, hereby articulating a clear social justice orientation towards citizenship education. However, recent studies indicate that most interpretations and thus implementations of GCE do not translate into a social action approach. Therefore, this article conceptualizes an intersectional approach to GCE, to make a critical approach of GCE more likely by practitioners. Intersectionality was developed by Black feminists in the US, to highlight structural oppressions and privileges on the basis of analytical categories. Intersectionality, furthermore, allows for opportunities to recognize resilience and resistance in marginalized communities. Therefore, an intersectional approach to GCE would develop sensibilities among students to understand global structures of oppression and domination on the basis of analytical categories like race, gender, and class. This knowledge would lead to an awareness of one’s own complicity and shared responsibility, resulting in deliberations and eventually political actions. The overall aim is to provide practitioners with a concrete suggestion of a critical interpretation of GCE, to show its potential as a social justice-orientated framework for educators in especially continental Europe. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Citizenship Education and Civil Society)
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15 pages, 269 KiB  
Concept Paper
Youth Agency in Civic Education: Contemporary Perspectives from Cabo Verde
by Aleida Cristina Mendes Borges
Societies 2020, 10(3), 53; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/soc10030053 - 20 Jul 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3290
Abstract
Globally, young people have demonstrated a certain level of disenchantment with the way their societies are being governed. Whereas some argue that they have become apathetic and somehow passive bystanders, new trends highlight that the opposite is true in many parts of the [...] Read more.
Globally, young people have demonstrated a certain level of disenchantment with the way their societies are being governed. Whereas some argue that they have become apathetic and somehow passive bystanders, new trends highlight that the opposite is true in many parts of the world. This paper explores the dynamics of youth groups in Cabo Verde who are acting on their frustrations with the lack of state-led citizenship education and enacting new sites to empower other citizens, foster critical and active citizenship as well as develop capabilities to engage, both individually and collectively, in civic and political activities. Two youth-led initiatives, Djumbai Libertariu and Parlamentu di Guetto, which emerged recently in the capital city Praia, will be analysed as social movements contributing to the emergence of new civic spaces, led by youth, for citizenship education, with the aim of tackling the lack of civil society action and attempting to address issues of general concern through both individual and collective action. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Citizenship Education and Civil Society)
12 pages, 216 KiB  
Essay
Training Teachers for and through Citizenship: Learning from Citizenship Experiences
by Marcus Bhargava and Lee Jerome
Societies 2020, 10(2), 36; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/soc10020036 - 28 Apr 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3012
Abstract
This article illustrates how one university-based initial teacher education (ITE) course sought to develop links with civil society organisations to develop meaningful active citizenship education. The purpose of the project was to enhance citizenship education for ITE students preparing to become secondary school [...] Read more.
This article illustrates how one university-based initial teacher education (ITE) course sought to develop links with civil society organisations to develop meaningful active citizenship education. The purpose of the project was to enhance citizenship education for ITE students preparing to become secondary school teachers. The article discusses recent developments in theorising teacher education 3.0 to ensure teachers are empowered to engage with a wide range of social and political challenges affecting young people and their communities. It then describes a small project that involved university staff and students in a local community organising project, bringing together a range of local community groups to work together for social justice. The article explores how student teachers working within that community organising group developed an increasingly politicised view of their role—as public sector workers in a politicised policy landscape; as potential agents for the promotion of democracy; and as political actors in their own right. The article concludes that these insights into practice illustrate the potential for a broader conception of teacher education, involving civil society partners beyond schools and universities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Citizenship Education and Civil Society)
16 pages, 252 KiB  
Concept Paper
Challenging the Hero Narrative: Moving towards Reparational Citizenship Education
by Gary M. Walsh
Societies 2020, 10(2), 34; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/soc10020034 - 08 Apr 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 7124
Abstract
In his book, No More Heroes: Grassroots Challenges to the Savior Mentality, Jordan Flaherty claims the saviour mentality exists when “you want to help others but are not open to guidance from those you want to help”. According to Flaherty, the adoption [...] Read more.
In his book, No More Heroes: Grassroots Challenges to the Savior Mentality, Jordan Flaherty claims the saviour mentality exists when “you want to help others but are not open to guidance from those you want to help”. According to Flaherty, the adoption of this mentality results in charitable activities at individual and community levels without broader systemic change, leaving unjust power relations unaddressed. He argues that this mentality is underpinned by racism, colonialism and capitalism, as well as an unethical and historically problematic understanding of charity. With reference to the ongoing partnership work between Scotland and Malawi, this article summarises a conceptual investigation into the possibility that Global Citizenship Education perpetuates the hero narrative. Historical, political and educational research is connected to Bhabha’s theory of cultural hybridity to conceptualise a theory of Reparational Citizenship Education, in contrast to the “reciprocal” approach favoured by policy makers and charitable organisations in Scotland. It is argued that this conceptual shift involves taking the hero narrative to task and that this approach has theoretical and practical implications for the future of Global Citizenship Education. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Citizenship Education and Civil Society)
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