CONCEIVING THE CONTEMPORARY CITIZENSHIP: MAIN APPROACHES, NEW DIMENSIONS AND A NEW CITIZENSHIP FRAME
Within the globalization process, citizenship has gained a vital position in the relationship among the local, national, and global levels of social life. Moreover, it has emerged as an important basis for the rights and freedom of cultural identities and social roles, which have recently gained more visibility. This situation has rendered the idea of conceiving contemporary citizenship, through its classical definitions and under the aegis of nationstates, practically impossible. Thus, focusing on the historical processes of this concept is essential for surmounting the rigid identification of nation-state citizenship (which has occurred over the last two centuries) and the restrictions that this situation has created. Focusing on such processes can also render a broader perspective and allow one to further analyze the concept by exposing the meanings and references beyond its basic identification. Based on such a perspective, this study examines the main approaches to citizenship and discusses the new dimensions that it has recently obtained. It also defines and outlines contemporary, inclusive, and emancipatory citizenship in order to provide the framework for maintaining/improving democratic rights and freedom in the future.
ÇAĞDAŞ YURTTAŞLIĞI KAVRAMAK: TEMEL YAKLAŞIMLAR, YENİ BOYUTLAR VE YENİ BİR YURTTAŞLIK ÇERÇEVESİ
Küreselleşme süreciyle birlikte, yurttaşlık, toplumsal yaşamın yerel, ulusal ve küresel düzeyleri arasındaki ilişkinin dönüşümü bağlamında hayati bir konuma erişmiştir. Buna ek olarak, çoğul ve/veya daha görülür hale gelen kültürel kimliklerin ve toplumsal rollerin hak ve özgürlük talepleri için önemli bir zemin olarak öne çıkmış ve yeni boyutlar kazanmıştır. Bu durum, çağdaş anlamda yurttaşlığı artık ulus-devlet çatısı altındaki klasik tanımları ve göndermeleriyle kavramayı imkânsız kılar. Yurttaşlığın son iki yüzyılda kalıplaşmış bir biçimde ulus-devlet yurttaşlığı ile özdeşleştirilmesini ve bu durumun kavramın algılanışında yarattığı daralmayı aşabilmek için, kavramın tarihi süreçlerine odaklanmak önem taşır. Bu tarihi süreçler, kavramın söz konusu özdeşliğin ötesinde de anlam ve göndermelere sahip olduğunu ortaya koyarak onu analiz etmede daha geniş bir bakış açısını mümkün kılar. Makalede, bu bakış açısının yardımıyla, kavrama ilişkin temel yaklaşımlar ve onun son dönemde kazandığı yeni boyutlar tartışılacak; yine bu tartışmadan hareketle, günümüzde demokratik hak ve özgürlüklere zemin işlevi görecek çağdaş, kapsayıcı ve özgürleşmeci bir yurttaşlığın ana hatları ortaya koyulmaya çalışılacaktır.
Within the globalization process, citizenship has gained a vital position in the relationship among the local, national, and global levels of social life. Moreover, it has emerged as an important basis for the rights and freedom of cultural identities and social roles, which have recently gained more visibility. This situation has rendered the idea of conceiving contemporary citizenship, through its classical definitions and under the aegis of nationstates, practically impossible. Thus, focusing on the historical processes of this concept is essential for surmounting the rigid identification of nationstate citizenship (which has occurred over the last two centuries) and the restrictions that this situation has created. Focusing on such processes can also render a broader perspective and allow one to further analyze the concept by exposing the meanings and references beyond its basic identification. Based on such a perspective, this study examines the main approaches to citizenship and discusses the new dimensions that it has recently obtained. It also defines and outlines contemporary, inclusive, and emancipatory citizenship in order to provide the framework for maintaining/improving democratic rights and freedom in the future.
Apart from the introduction and conclusion, this study consists of three main chapters. The first chapter focuses on the historical background of citizenship, especially in the Western context. By examining city-states and multiple citizenships in the ancient world, it is argued that a historical reading of the concept enables one to contemplate citizenship independently of its established adherence to nation-states and nations in a modern sense. Moreover, the social circumstances and dynamics that transformed the concept into what it is today are discussed from the historical periods to the post-French Revolution era. This historical reading offers a broader understanding of the term “citizen,” by rescuing it from conventional meanings and references.
The second chapter examines the principle issue in which the emphasis is between the individual and the community, while defining and re-thinking the notion of citizenship. The two main conceptualizations of citizenship (i.e., liberal individualist and communitarian) and their two variants (i.e., civic republican and radical democratic) are also discussed as different approaches to citizenship. By focusing on their criticisms of one another, it can reveal the deficiencies and provide the basis for reconsidering citizenship in an emancipatory manner. It also asserts that the quest for a balance between the unity of any community and individual rights can strengthen the democratic foundation of citizenship as a whole.
The third chapter argues that, with the rise in the political value of cultural identities and social struggles in which individuals identify themselves, citizenship has become the basis on which pluralistic and emancipatory ideals as well as demands look for a “living space.” This situation leads us to re-think citizenship outside of the conventional and passive understanding of a “citizen,” as an individual whose identity is given by the state. The new dimensions of citizenship are also discussed in light of such reconsideration. Since it is impossible to touch on all of the recent forms of citizenship in this study, these forms are analyzed through four dimensions that encompass their main lines: gender, environment, culture, and post-nationality. It is posited that such an analysis and discussion over the new forms and dimensions of citizenship have key roles in the creation of a contemporary and democratic framework of citizenship.
The final section of this study presents an inclusive, pluralistic, and emancipatory foundation for citizenship in today’s democracies. Based on previous discussions regarding citizenship and their historical backgrounds and processes, the various conceptualizations as well as the new forms and dimensions of this foundation are specified. As an additional conclusion, it is pointed out that the vision of citizenship (as a social aspect that can renew itself through its local, national, and transnational attachments) requires participation, demands, and daily practices in order to realize an emancipatory approach. The implication of these findings is that democratic rights and freedom can only be secured through such a dynamic vision of citizenship, instead of a static, passive, and nation-state dependent perspective.
