Redefining Citizenship for Our Multicultural World

A redefinition of the term "citizenship" is rapidly taking place. For the past two hundred years, citizenship, place of inhabitance, and cultural identity formed concentric spheres for the majority of people in the western world: I am an American citizen living in the United States exercising cultural habits predominantly associated with the American culture. In one example of how a nation now extends beyond its borders, Mexico, however, has developed an official, legal identification card that it now issues with U.S. addresses to formerly undocumented Mexican workers in the United States. The Mexican government has distributed 1.7 million cards in just two years, giving the cardholders and their families legitimacy in living their lives illegally within the U.S. borders. Mexico bypassed the U.S. federal government, making it irrelevant in the process, and negotiated directly with banks across the border in Texas to arrange the identity cards' acceptance.

Before the recent global developments, the children of these workers would be positioned between their two countries, a true citizen of neither. Marisol, a 9th grader in Kirkland, Washington, for example, recently told her teacher that she gets teased at school both here for being a "wetback" and back in Mexico for speaking Spanish with an American accent. She suffers from low self esteem and sees her bi-cultural experience a challenge rather than a blessing. Marisol and students like her challenge us to redefine what it means to be a citizen in our multi-cultural society.

Our schools are our society's primary institutions engaged in the business of educating citizens. They are being called upon to play a greater role in preparing our young people to be globally-minded citizens so that students like Marisol and her locally born classmates are able to participate thoughtfully in our democracy. But the "melting pot" model of the past is being challenged because of globalization and divided economic loyalties, and a new definition of citizenship for our new world order will better serve all students as they look to join a world that extends well beyond our national borders.

Economic Citizenship

Globalization—the increased flow of capital, people, and information across borders—has made a deep imprint on the meaning of citizenship. Traditional definitions of citizenship are increasingly challenged by a new world order in which Americans compete against people in other countries and multi-national companies and inter-government agencies have jurisdiction over local decisions. The draw of the dollar pulls people to migrate for short or long term as much as political unrest pushed people to migrate in years past.

Globalization has challenged the almighty power of the nation-state, and in doing so has shifted citizenship from being a passive "default" function of where one is born to an active descriptor of the various constituencies a given person can belong to. In our own nation's history, we moved from thinking of citizens as Americans, then hyphenated-Americans (Italian-Americans, Irish-Americans, etc.), and increasingly as bi-nationals (dual passport holders). The Internet allows new migrants to maintain real time contact with their families and friends back home, eliminating the psychological break from the "old country" that has historically encouraged migrants to establish a stronger sense of permanency here in the United States. Migrants such as the Chinese leaving Hong Kong recently exercised a certain level of choice in where to go and invest their capital, making governments a player in the marketplace of attracting migrants. Citizenship is becoming as much a chosen identity as much as a birthright.

Globalization has also put economic activity on par with political engagement in shaping global markets and foreign policy. For example, millions of Americans shop at Walmart, a company whose annual sales exceeds the GDP of 155 countries in the world, and yet these people have no idea that their collective shopping habits impact the trade balances of developing nations and major public policy initiatives here at home. The challenge is that we do not think of ourselves as citizens in an economic community, bearing not just rights but responsibilities to act in our economic world with knowledge and skills appropriate to protecting the common good. As our world becomes more and more economically interdependent, there is an increasing need to think about "economic citizenship" as a growing element to citizenship in our modern world.

By defining "economic citizenship" as involving the rights and responsibilities of living in an economic community, significant thought must be given to the responsibilities that this would entail. Because our capitalist economic model runs on individual choice and offers little opportunity for collective action, the majority of people acting in our economy think seldom about their role as an "economic citizen" and do little to exercise the limited amount of responsibility they have in their control. "Citizenship" has historically described the rights and duties of being a member of a political community, not an economic one.

Furthermore, an analysis of citizenship as including the responsibilities of individuals living in an economic community must address the distinct jurisdictions in which these people are operating and the uncoupling of right and responsibilities that results from this. A Mexican living in Seattle bears rights that come from living in a liberal Western democracy, but those rights are not matched with responsibilities within the jurisdiction of Seattle. His responsibilities most likely still live in Mexico, giving him a personal investment not where he lives but where he comes from.

The Hong Kong Chinese living in Vancouver, British Columbia, act similarly as "economic citizens" with de-linked rights and responsibilities: they have rights living in Canada, but their global identity leads them to invest themselves in their familial and cultural responsibilities rather than possible civic responsibilities. Many educators will attest to the difficulty of getting the parents of recently-arrived immigrant students involved in their child's school, both as a factor of cultural differences and because of financial responsibilities that have them working two and three jobs to support their family both here and in their country of origin.

A last element of "economic citizenship" worth touching upon because of its relevance to schools is the often conflictual relationship between those who identify themselves in some way as actors in a global economy and those who do not. Amy Chua, author of World on Fire, wrote in a recent New York Times opinion piece (January 7, 2003) that a paradox of globalization results when laissez-faire capitalism is combined with free elections in such a way that economic minorities are able to disrupt a country's power structure. In countries around the world, "market dominant minorities" such as the Chinese in Canada conflict with the democratic majority, sometimes resulting in disastrous outcomes. While the extreme versions of this conflict are limited to developing nations already unstable in the world economy, the significance of the chasm between the globally-prepared citizens being churned out of our best schools and the majority of other students who do not have such global awakenings is important as we rethink our educational system.

Culture and Citizenship

Any discussion of citizenship must explore the profound relationship that exists between culture and citizenship. Culture can be defined as "the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought." The rights and responsibilities of a citizen operating within a political and economic community reflect the behaviors, beliefs, and institutions of the individuals who founded that community. To the extent that citizenship is thought of as a philosophical ideal (rather than a legalistic descriptor), it can be viewed as a subset of culture. Citizenship defines the rights and responsibilities of living within a society where dominant members have a certain sets of beliefs, institutions, and resources.

Culture and citizenship have an iterative relationship: elements of a dominant culture are reflected in their legal and cultural citizenship practices, and citizenship standards over time influence a society's culture. A humanitarian interest in protecting members of its former colonies, for example, led the United Kingdom to grant citizenship to a high numbers of Indians, who in turn had an influence on British culture. It might be argued that the U.K. granted legal citizenship to Indians but not necessarily cultural citizenship, with many British subjects castigating Indian migrants as the source of all bad in British society.

The articulation of the relationship between culture and citizenship is important, however, because it raises the issue of whether the culture indoctrinated in public policy and governing institutions reflects the culture of those individuals presently citizens in a given place. Thinking of this relationship in terms of our schools, we might ask whether our schools reflect the culture of those children presently enrolled? Should they? What would it take to make them more reflective?

The introduction of economics as an influence equal to politics in the new world order challenges the tradition relationship between culture and citizenship. Before globalization gained in influence, immigrants coming to the United States were forced in large part to become Americans. They did not have access to the Internet or bank cards that allowed cash deposits in Manhattan to be withdrawn on the same day in Bangalore. They became citizens in a political sense, and the notion of "economic citizenship" did not have the same meaning as it might today. Multiculturalism encouraged an interest in and respect for the many cultures within society, but the core rights and responsibilities of living in the United States were uniformly agreed upon, more or less, by immigrant and native born alike.

Citizenship in a multicultural society with immigrants acting as "economic citizens" of communities far outside the borders of the United States looks quite different. If citizenship is a subset of culture, a society with many cultures will reflect many varying definitions of citizenship. Globalization is eroding the potential for one, unifying culture rooted in a compelling national narrative. While most people can continue to agree at some level on the rights that society should extend to all members, a set of mutually agreed upon responsibilities comes less easily because of the influences of the culture of individuals with economic responsibilities outside the U.S. The question arises whether we can arrive at one definition of citizenship in a multicultural society affected by globalization. A society with all rights and no responsibilities does not seem sustainable in the long run, and yet we seem increasingly in a position of going in that direction.

Redefining citizenship

The definition of citizenship most appropriate for our times, then, is one that reflects both the political and economic communities in which our neighbors live. We might define citizenship as the totality of rights and responsibilities that are associated with multicultural political and economic communities. An expansion of the definition of citizenship raises exponentially the number of challenges that come in educating citizens. Where we had political rights and responsibilities of people basically committed to their country of inhabitance, we now have economic rights and responsibilities of people with competing interests and varying levels of commitment to the country in which they live. A graphic analysis of just one family's political and economic ties could yield a mass of circles across multiple continents, leaving little room for agreement on what is required of any family member in order to benefit from the rights afforded him.

The question then becomes not can we arrive at one definition of citizenship but must we arrive at one definition of citizenship, and it seems like the only definition that can cut across cultures is one of global citizenship. Global citizenship in my mind is an aggregation of all other citizenships: political citizenship, economic citizenship, environmental citizenship, cultural citizenship, etc. It suggests a higher order membership in a community that spans borders and cultures, of individuals who not just enjoy the rights of living in a global community but bear the responsibilities of doing so.

Educating Global Citizens

As our national borders become more and more irrelevant, what elements are universally required in order to produce informed and engaged global citizens? Since schools are tasked with the production of citizens, a redefinition of citizenship would serve to refocus what is offered within our schools. Some of the most important elements include:
· Comprehensive knowledge about world political systems
· Comprehensive knowledge about world economic systems
· Critical thinking skills to analyze issues that span political-economic lines
· Cross-cultural communication skills
· Opportunities to practice engagement as "active" citizen
· Opportunities to build empathy for others
· Forums that serve as the "public sphere"

As the boundaries for learning become more and more remote, increased attention needs to be paid to the relevance of learning for students. Now that economics and politics stand on equal footing and are indecipherably intermingled, educating our young people for global citizenship has become more difficult, and the relevance of this increased amount of necessary knowledge is not always obvious. This is particularly key for students who are not afforded the opportunities from the outset to see the world through a global lens. As some students see the relevance and others do not, the chasm between the two groups could result in effects detrimental to society as a whole.

The antidote against a growing chasm between globally-minded students and parochially-minded students is an academic model in which we enhance the perspective of students by ensuring that their teachers and schools are well connected with each other and the resources around them, modeling a global village that is current, relevant and dynamic. The study of history has evolved from being anchored in prominent leaders and the usual places to being reflected in the stories of everyday people. Global education, therefore, must shift to help students personalize the world and internalize their connection to people living in worlds far away. The challenge of integrating "global studies" themes with an in-depth knowledge of countries and cultures enriched by the diverse voices and stories that capture the human experience can overwhelm the most experienced teacher. Diverse and interdependent community organizations can serve as important partners to teachers as they model a diverse and interdependent world in their classroom.

Robust content knowledge requires that students learn the in-depth histories of other countries. Rather than survey courses that introduce students briefly to the most superficial differences among many countries, a new global curriculum must seek to build an understanding of interdependence that can only be achieved by probing deeply into a few countries. This requires that students develop an understanding of major themes evolving in our world today and then be able to analyze how these themes play out in different areas of the world with similar results, mediated by culture and geography. An appreciation for multiculturalism is then achieved because students gain an in-depth understanding of the early history and philosophies of a culture that they can then apply to other cultures. In terms of the ubiquitous "cultural iceberg" used by educators to demonstrate culture, students learn about the ninety-percent of a culture that exists beneath the surface, thereby gaining new skills in understanding all cultures.

Any model of a global curriculum that puts understanding perspectives and authentic application at its core is a curriculum that cannot be taught in isolation. It demands that teachers and schools model the level of involvement and curiosity that we hope to inspire in our students. New York Times columnist and author Thomas Friedman refers to the post-Cold War world order as being similar to the World-Wide-Web, with nodes of actors independently interconnected, bringing great advantage to those who are connected. Classrooms, similarly, are greatly enriched when they are defined not by the four walls that enclose them but as a nexus of community resources that teachers can draw upon to build understanding of the greater world.

Conclusion

We stand at the doors of a tremendous opportunity. In the aftermath of September 11th, we can see the limitations of the nation to protect its borders through force, and we can experience the immediate relevance of promoting a vibrant and shared understanding of what it means to be an American citizen—even a world citizen—today. The opportunity before us is whether we take the initiative to redefine our place in our world and the rights and responsibilities we assume in being here, or whether we wrap ourselves in parochial arguments of the past and limit our potential.

For Marisol and her classmates to reach their full potential, we need to anchor their education in a new understanding of citizenship that recognizes the importance of economic citizenship and culture in our new world order. We need to arm our schools with the necessary resources for our teachers and students to build a multicultural world around them that reflects the perspectives of people living inside and outside our borders. We need to invest in our schools so that they can make learning relevant for all students, not just those who are already globally-aware. Since citizenship is the end goal of education in general, a redefinition of citizenship is a good place to start rethinking our schools.

About the author

Nancy A. Bacon is Vice President and Director of Educational Programs of the World Affairs Council of Seattle. Her award-winning Global Classroom program connects teachers and students with international issues, resources, and people. She can be contacted at nbacon@world-affairs.org. For more information about the World Affairs Council, visit www.world-affairs.org.

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