More Subjects
Nadeje Britt
Barbara Monaghan
Advanced Writing
November 23, 2019
Global citizenship and equality
A global citizen is concerned about the community and its members, shifting the perspective from self to collective. Philosophers and sociologists have presented different views on understanding the relationship between citizenship and social justice. The concept of social justice is linked to equality because it is based on the ideology of fairness for all. Social justice can be understood as a way of “promoting a just society by challenging injustice and valuing diversity” CITATION Rob19 \l 1033 (Robinson). It further suggests “all people share a common humanity and therefore have a right to equitable treatment, support for their human rights, and a fair allocation of community resources” CITATION Rob19 \l 1033 (Robinson). The simplest meaning of social justice states equal and fair allocation of resources among people of a society. As global citizenship stresses on understanding the world and taking an active role in the community by working for others, it promotes fairness, equitable and sustainable place for living.
Global citizen itself is based on the idea of connecting to the community. It is focused on helping the community in building its values and perspectives. The idea of social justice is that everyone is a part of society and they have equal rights. The concept of global citizenship is focused on encouraging young people for participating in the world by developing knowledge, skills and values. Global citizenship means that people have civic responsibilities for being a member of the world based on the idea of whole-world philosophy. This indicates that their civic responsibilities are applicable all over the world, not restricted to their home country CITATION Oxf19 \l 1033 (Oxfam). Global citizenship can be defined as “recognizing the interconnectedness of life, respecting cultural diversity and human rights, advocating global social justice, empathizing with suffering people around the world, seeing the world as others see it and feeling a sense of moral responsibility for planet Earth” CITATION Pau17 \l 1033 (Sherman). Global citizenship can be understood as civil responsibilities that make this world a peaceful and equal place for living. People must fulfil their responsibilities towards the people and society which leads to the benefit of the entire world. The philosophy of global citizenship discourages people from limiting their goodness to their countries only. This reflects a broader sense of humanity because people are encouraged to act reasonably beyond geographies and regions. This ideology promotes greater good in society by eliminating negative behaviors such as discrimination and inequality.
Global citizenship refers to a broad range of ethical philosophy in which an individual is expected to accept his social, economic, political and environmental responsibilities. This reflects culturally and environmentally inclusive worldwide view and interconnectedness of things. In this philosophy, things are viewed through a global perspective that is beyond the nation's interest. Political geography is irrelevant and the ideology claims that for mitigating a broader range of challenges people must look beyond the narrow vision of national interest. The meaning of global citizenship is 'the world is one family'. The concept emphasizes on the idea that people are citizens of the world which promotes harmony among members of different nations CITATION Pau17 \l 1033 (Sherman).
Young people who aspire to become global citizens must possess social and intercultural values that promote inclusiveness and fairness in society. Another prominent aspect of a global citizen is a non-discriminatory attitude. Because the philosophy of global citizen is based on fairness it discourages negative social behaviors such as discrimination. However, the realistic role of global citizenship is challenged by growing inequality among populations and communities.
The three dimensions of global citizenship include awareness, responsibility and participation. The primary theme claims that there is no difference between the national sense of duty or moral obligations that an individual has towards the world. The resources of the planets must be used for securing the welfare of the masses and the ecosystems. It embraces a mindset that leads to the future sustainability of the planet and the people CITATION UNE17 \l 1033 (UNESCO). This philosophy of global citizenship is crucial for promoting the value-creating attitude among people. This allows individuals to recognize the rights of other people and act in a way that will secure the social wellbeing and welfare of others. Value creation is focused on the transformation process that leads to worldwide happiness by improving one's interaction with others on a daily basis. The idea states that global citizens contribute to social wellness and strengthens the foundations of peace.
Without social justice, the concept of a global citizen cannot prevail. The argument claims that global citizenship is akin to global disposition and social contribution. This reflects that global citizenship has been introduced for creating value for society. These value-creation attitudes are thus linked to the concept of social justice. It also suggests that global citizen must not act in a way that would devalue social justice or fairness. They must be able to develop their understanding of world events and think about the values that are important to them.
Social justice also states that the basic duties are assigned to the people that would undermine negative forces or behaviors CITATION Rob19 \l 1033 (Robinson). The second important attribute of global citizens depicts that they are bound to act fairly in their decisions, choices and words. This principle can be understood by considering their role in a realistic situation. Global citizens cannot choose anything that would make others worse off such as a business cannot dump toxic chemicals to the lands or water because it will threaten the health and stability of the place. Similarly, a global citizen must not harm others in any aspects of life. Their decisions must follow ethics in solving their problems. Fairness in words depicts that they should not use harsh words or inappropriate language with anyone. In conflicting situations, they must respect the feelings of others. This is also relevant to the concept of fair distribution of capacities as identified by John Rawl in social justice theory. He claims, "the background institutions of social and economic justice in the form most appropriate to citizens seen as free and equal” (Rawl). Global citizens must see everyone with dignity and the same right of enjoying the resources.
The principles of global citizenship exhibit close relevance to social justice. Their awareness of the wider world allows them to play a positive role as a world citizen and avoid engaging in activities that could harm the community or its people. They participate in the community at a range of levels and acts to make this world an equitable and sustainable place. It can be conferred that global citizens are bound to take responsibility for their actions. The attributes that a global citizen possess are adequate for linking them to social justice. The first quality states that a global citizen must exhibit understanding attitudes and adopt an empathetic behavior towards others CITATION Oxf19 \l 1033 (Oxfam). This is not different from the idea of social justice that also suggests avoiding aggression towards the people of society. A responsible global citizen instead of humiliating others must be able to understand them. This reveals the concept of social justice that suggests accepting responsibility to the community and people CITATION Fet17 \l 1033 (Mansourif, Johns and Marotta). Empathy also reflects that global citizens are responsible to understand the one’s with suffering and offering adequate help or support. Instead of turning away from the poor or deserving they must exhibit awareness, sensitivity and adopt a compassionate action.
The survival of global citizenship is impossible without social justice because they believe that everyone is equal. They reject the ideology or myths that some individuals or groups are superior to others. This is based on the concept of social justice that claims that all people are equal and have equal rights irrespective of their color, religion, statuses, cultures or socio-economic backgrounds. No one can claim any other person that he has fewer rights or is inferior. Social justice claims that social and economic inequalities do not add to the advantages of one group. It also suggests that every person has equal basic rights and liberties. According to this ideology, it is not appropriate for global citizens to engage in any activity that reflects their supremacist or superior mindsets. They cannot favor a white man over black or disrespect people on the basis of their color or race.
Another quality that links global citizenship with social justice is the fact that they accept differences. They believe that everyone must be respected irrespective of differences and they avoid reacting to them with hostility. Global citizens thus promote cultural diversity and avoid engaging in hostile reactions that could hurt their feelings or sentiments. They must be able to interact with people of different cultures in a positive way that promotes the ideology of equality and fairness CITATION Oxf19 \l 1033 (Oxfam). Global citizenship is thus based on the principles of social justice that discourage adoption of discriminatory or racial attitude towards others. Acceptance of differences in different settings such as schools, workplace, media and business encourages people to respect everyone. This idea rejects the practices of showing aggression or hatred towards certain groups or communities. By respecting values and diversity global citizens eliminate negative stereotypes that could undermine the growth opportunities for the deprived or people from different cultures. Social justice also claims that people must be given equal opportunities irrespective of their cultures or backgrounds.
The argument claims that the ideology of global citizen cannot be attained without social justice and equality. Both concepts have a common goal of promoting equality and fairness in society. It states that citizens must possess social and intercultural values that promote inclusiveness and democracy. Everyone has a right to take part in social, economic or political aspects of the society. Equity means ending the economic gap between groups and communities. It would be unfair for one group to prosper when the other one is suffering. Another similarity that I have explored between two concepts is of avoiding harming others CITATION Rob19 \l 1033 (Robinson). Global citizens must promote cultural diversity and avoid engaging in hostile reactions. The individuals require to cultivate a feeling concern towards the welfare of others and interconnection the happiness of the people. Global citizenship is associated with the themes of happiness, betterment and wellbeing of the societies.
Global citizenship is linked to the wellbeing of all people in the world. The ideology emphasizes on building interconnectivity among social and cultural values that lead to the welfare of masses. The idea stresses on determining how countries can corporate for the collective good of the humankind. It also reflects giving a clear sense of promise and virtues to global citizens. Global citizenship is linked to the idea of protecting all people and working for the collective happiness of the people and the welfare of society. By promoting global citizens the world will be a harmonious and peaceful place for living.
Work Cited
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mansourif, Fethi, Amelia Johns and Vince Marotta. "Critical global citizenship: contextualising citizenship and globalisation ." Journal of Citizenship and Globalisation Studies 1.1 (2017): 1–9.
Oxfam. What is Global Citizenship? 2019. 18 08 2019 <https://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/who-we-are/what-is-global-citizenship>.
Sherman, Paul. Why the world needs more global citizens. 2017. 29 11 2019 <http://theconversation.com/why-the-world-needs-more-global-citizens-84680>.
Robinson, Matthew. What is Social Justice? 2019. 18 08 2019 <https://web.archive.org/web/20130307071200/http:/gjs.appstate.edu/social-justice-and-human-rights/what-social-justice>.
UNESCO. "Global citizenship education: preparing learners for the challenges of the 21st century." 2017.
More Subjects
Join our mailing list
© All Rights Reserved 2024