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Active Citizenship (active + citizenship)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	54%

Selected Abstracts

Competences for Learning to Learn and Active Citizenship: different currencies or two sides of the same coin?

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, Issue 1 2010
BRYONY HOSKINS
In the context of the European Union Framework of Key Competences and the need to develop indicators for European Union member states to measure progress made towards the ,knowledge economy' and ,greater social cohesion' both the learning to learn and the active citizenship competences have been highlighted. However, what have yet to be discussed are the links and the overlaps between these two competences. Based on the development of research projects on these two fields, this article will compare the two sets of competences, both qualitatively and quantitatively. It will describe how the values and dispositions that motivate and inform active citizenship and learning to learn are related to each other, both empirically and theoretically. Both these competences are tools for empowering individuals and giving them the motivation and autonomy to control their own lives beyond the social circumstances in which they find themselves. In the case of active citizenship, the ability to be able to participate in society and voice their concerns, ensure their rights and the rights of others. In the case of learning to learn to be able to participate in work and everyday life by being empowered to learn and update the constantly changing competences required to successfully manage your life plans. When measuring both these competences then certain values relating positively towards democracy and human rights are common in their development. [source]

The Increasing Political Power of Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel: From Passive Citizenship to Active Citizenship

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 1 2003
Tamar Horowitz
The immigrants in Israel from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) followed a different pattern of political growth than other immigrant groups. Their increased power began on the national level and moved down to the local level, rather than from the periphery toward the centre , the pattern followed by the Oriental Jewish immigrants. We can trace three stages in the development of their political power. The first stage was during the 1992 elections when the immigrants attempted to organize their own list. Though they failed, the results of the election strengthened them because they were given credit for the left's victory, giving them a sense of political effectiveness. The second stage came during the 1996 elections. It was a defining moment for the former Soviet immigrants' political power. In this stage external factors and internal factors reinforced each other. The change in the electoral system made it possible for the immigrants to vote for their community on the one hand and for a national figure on the other, thus resolving their identity dilemma. The local elections in 1998 marked the third stage in their political strength. They found the immigrant community better organized, with an improved understanding of its local interests, the capacity to put forward a strong local leadership, and a stronger link between the immigrant political centre and the local level. [source]

Six Ages towards a Learning Region , A Retrospective

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, Issue 3 2010
NORMAN LONGWORTH
Learning Cities and Learning Regions are terms now in common use as a result of the growing importance of lifelong learning concepts to the economic, social and environmental future of people and places. Why ,learning' regions? Why not intelligent, creative, clever, smart or knowledge regions? In truth, all of these can, and some do, also exist, but we argue that this is not a semantic debate. The basis of intelligence, smartness, cleverness, creativity and knowledge is effective learning and its intelligent application in creating a better future. We can, we believe, only learn our way into the future and the same is true, in developmental terms, of cities, towns, regions and communities. What therefore is a learning region? Definitions tend to differ according to perception, situation, occupation and objective. Where the focus is on technology a learning region will emphasise the advantages of hi-tech for the development of a physical infrastructure that will assist regeneration and be useful for more efficient behaviour and learning by people and organisations. Hence the growth of ,smart cities,' mainly in North America. Where it is on employment, employability, organisational management and training for industry, the development of human and social capital for economic gain and competitive edge tends to predominate. Most regions concentrate on this aspect. Where the motivation is based on the use of valuable resources, it will concentrate on volunteering, active citizenship and the building of social capital. Such an approach is not well developed in many regions and the optimum balance between economic, community and personal growth is poorly understood. Where the goal is the competent use of organisational potential a learning region will mobilise all its stakeholder institutions as partners in the service of the region as a whole. Here, very little is understood or implemented. This article argues that all of these approaches and others in the fields of environment, personal and cultural growth, innovation, diversity and communication are a holistic part and parcel of learning region development. Its meaning and its characteristics will become clear as it charts the development of ideas about learning regions, particularly those that have occurred during the past 20 years. It suggests the existence of a paradigm shift at work , the age of education and training, which has served us well in the late 20th century in satisfying the needs of a growing, upwardly mobile proportion of the population, has now given way to the era of lifelong learning, in which the means, the tools and techniques are employed to target and motivate everyone in a city, town or region. Those regions that achieve this nirvana will be the winners in the apparent paradox that intelligent local action leads to success in a globalised world, a version of the concept of ,glocalisation' coined by Robertson (1995). [source]

Competences for Learning to Learn and Active Citizenship: different currencies or two sides of the same coin?

The multiplicity of citizenship: transnational and local practices and identifications of middle-class migrants

GLOBAL NETWORKS, Issue 3 2010
MARIANNE VAN BOCHOVE
Abstract In this article we focus on local and transnational forms of active citizenship, understood as the sum of all political practices and processes of identification. Our study, conducted among middle-class immigrants in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, indicates that the importance of active transnational citizenship should not be overstated. Among these immigrants, political practices are primarily focused on the local level; political practices directed to the home country appear to be quite rare. However, although transnational activities in the public sphere are rather exceptional, many immigrants do participate in homeland-directed activities in the private sphere. If we look at processes of identification, we see that a majority of the middle-class immigrants have a strong local identity. Many of them combine this local identification with feelings of belonging to people in their home country. [source]

Growing cohesive communities one favour at a time: social exclusion, active citizenship and time banks

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2003
Gill Seyfang
Community currencies have been put forward as a grassroots tool to promote social inclusion through community self-help and active citizenship. ,Time banks' are a new form of community currency in the UK which are receiving government support. Time credits are earned for each hour of voluntary service given, and can be used to purchase services from other members in return. This article discusses new findings from the first national study of time banks to assess their impacts and potential. An evaluative framework is employed which describes social inclusion as comprising effective economic, social and political citizenship rights. Evidence is presented from a national survey of time banks and from an in-depth case study of Rushey Green Time Bank, situated in a health care setting in a deprived area of south London. Time banks are found to be successful at engaging socially excluded and vulnerable groups of people in community activities , many for the first time , boosting their confidence, social networks, skills and well-being, as well as opening up possibilities for challenging inequitable social institutions and creating spaces where different values prevail. Their potential as tools for democratic renewal, promoting civic engagement and active citizenship is discussed. Les ,unités de valeur' communautaires sont considérées comme des outils essentiels pour encourager l'inclusion sociale grâce à une entraide communautaire et une citoyenneté active. Les ,banques de temps' constituent une nouvelle forme d'unité de valeur communautaire au Royaume-Uni, avec le soutien du gouvernement. Des crédits de temps, acquis pour chaque heure de bénévolat donnée, peuvent servir à acheter en retour des prestations auprès d'autres membres. L'article examine les résultats de la première étude nationale sur les banques de temps afin d'en estimer l'impact et le potentiel. Un cadre d'évaluation est appliqué, définissant l'inclusion sociale comme un ensemble de droits effectifs, à la fois économiques, sociaux et de citoyenneté politique. Des indications sont fournies par une enquête nationale sur les banques de temps, et par une étude de cas approfondie de la Rushey Green Time Bank portant sur les services médicaux dans une zone défavorisée du sud de Londres. Ces banques réussissent à impliquer dans des activités communautaires des groupes de population , souvent pour la première fois , socialement exclus et vulnérables, renforçant leurs réseaux sociaux, confiance, compétences et bien-être, tout en leur offrant des possibilités d'affronter des institutions sociales inéquitables et en créant des espaces où prévalent d'autres valeurs. L'article traite aussi du potentiel des banques de temps comme outil de renouveau démocratique, stimulant engagement civique et citoyenneté active. [source]

,Everybody's entitled to their own opinion': ideological dilemmas of liberal individualism and active citizenship,

JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2007
Susan Condor
Abstract Conversational interview accounts were used to explore everyday understandings of political participation on the part of young white adults in England. Analysis focussed on dilemmatic tensions within respondents' accounts between values of active citizenship and norms of liberal individualism. Respondents could represent community membership as engendering rights to political participation, whilst also arguing that identification with local or national community militates against the formulation of genuine personal attitudes and rational political judgement. Respondents could represent political participation as a civic responsibility, whilst also casting political campaigning as an illegitimate attempt to impose personal opinions on to others. Formal citizenship education did not appear to promote norms of political engagement but rather lent substance to the argument that political decision-making should be based on the rational application of technical knowledge rather than on public opinion or moral principle. In conclusion we question whether everyday understandings of responsible citizenship necessarily entail injunctions to political action. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

From Contestation to Autonomy: The Staging and Framing of Anti-Hanson Contention

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND HISTORY, Issue 2 2001
Sean Scalmer
The rise of Hansonism provoked a campaign of demonstrations, rallies, marches and walkouts. This movement was frequently received within the media as violent, disruptive, and illiberal. However, I argue that anti-Hanson contention represented a noteworthy form of active citizenship. It contested the presence of the One Nation Party, undermined the ideological claim that Hanson represented ,ordinary' Australians, and garnered substantial publicity. The anti-Hanson campaign was concerned not only with the staging of dissent in public space, but with how that dissent was framed within the public sphere. Reflecting these public dynamics, the anti-Hanson movement moved over time from a reliance on contestational gatherings, that directly opposed the One Nation Party in physical space to autonomous gatherings, that attempted to create separate spaces of anti-racist politics. Ultimately, therefore, the campaign can be understood as a flexible, democratic and self-reflexive form of political mobilisation. [source]

Felt tip pens and school councils: children's participation rights in four English schools

CHILDREN & SOCIETY, Issue 4 2001
Dominic Wyse
The United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child has created practical challenges for nation states and institutions particularly in relation to children's rights to participation. The limited research that is available has tended to use survey methodology; qualitative accounts of children's daily lives are rare. The present study investigated the nature of children's participation in their education in two primary and two secondary schools; in particular the right to express views freely in all matters affecting the child. The study found that children's opportunities to express their views were extremely limited even when school councils were in place. It is concluded that the goal of active citizenship espoused by recent national curriculum developments will remain illusive unless educational practice changes to a focus on school processes rather than products. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]