Critical World Citizenship

A second feature of global citizenship is its aspiration to holistic education, one that pays attention “not only to cognitive outcomes but also to affective, ethical, moral, peace-based, aesthetic and artistic learning” (Torres 2017:149). This is linked, furthermore, to sustainability, since global citizen education invites learners to “de-center themselves, deepen their sense of responsibility, and disinvest from harmful desires (…) to (co)exist differently on a shared planet” (Stein and Andreotti, in Bosio 2021:13).

Thirdly, critical world citizens go beyond the cosmopolitan mindset of global citizens in directing the praxis of their citizenship rights and duties in ways that highlight issues of power, voice, and difference, for example, between global north and global south. It is awareness of such structures of inequality, and the commitment to reflexivity vis-à-vis universality that drives their attempt to make a positive societal impact and contribute (however modestly) to emancipate less-privileged ‘others’ (Mansouri, 2017).

Fourthly, critical world citizens emphasise the importance of ethical values, social responsibility, and active citizenry (Pais & Costa 2020). They share an understanding of citizenship defined, not only as a certain legal status as a citizen, but also as a sense of belonging to a community in which citizens exercise their rights to action for societal change. In other words, an understanding of citizenship rooted in ‘doing’ and ‘practicing’ citizenship.

Practicing critical world citizenship requires a set of skills that blend moderation with determination. Nine such competencies, including autonomy, patience, and self-reflection are presented here in some detail. A truly harmonious implementation of all these skills at once remains a utopic ideal. There rarely is only one right way of observing the attitude of a critical world citizen. Rather, are there multiple paths of meaningful action that occur simultaneously – with all the benefits and contradictions this entails - and aim, each in their way, to advance genuine equality, authentic liberty and resilient personal or collective growth. In this sense, this toolbox for critical world citizens is more a permanent invitation for dialogue and deeper investigation than a template to be emulated.

We hope, nevertheless, that the practical set-up of the toolbox will offer concrete tools and tips for students and teachers but also serve as a resource hub for scholars interested in global critical citizenship education and for practitioners in society at large.

Yet, despite initiatives like these, many (EUC) students do not find opportunity to acquire critical citizenship skills throughout the curriculum. This leads to paradoxical situations whereby, on one hand, EUC is recognised as a pioneer in critical world citizenship but where, on the other hand, the practical implications of this concept are not clearly articulated. Thus, a variety of perspectives on critical world citizenship circulate: we find it employed as cross-cultural communication but we also find it employed in activist terms connected to achieving social justice. It is unclear how these are linked in theory or practice. De facto, these multiple perspectives can lead to tense debates on what critical world citizenship means with regards to complex real-life issues, such as climate activism, migration, biodiversity or decolonisation geopolitical threats.

The ambition of this project is not to resolve contradictions that reflect polysemous understandings of the term in academia (Oxley & Morris 2013; Luckett & Bhatt 2024). Rather, we aim to clarify what critical citizenship means, not only philosophically but especially in pedagogical terms: how to teach critical world citizenship skills?

Rather than designing new tools in a one-size-fits-all manner, we deployed a three-step approach to (1) take stock of how critical world citizenship is being taught across EUC curricula and see (2) how these practices can be usefully operationalised for teachers within our university and beyond, so that (3) we can align, improve, and circulate an interdisciplinary transferable toolkit to build critical world citizenship skills.

In 2022, we started with an inventory of understandings and approaches on critical world citizenship gathered during focus groups with EUC students and staff. The summary of these findings [link to CRIST intermediate report] then served as input for a round of workshops (again involving students and staff) in which we presented the initial findings and jointly distilled a preliminary list of skills. With the assistance of RISBO, we then elaborated this list into a publicly accessible toolbox. It is this repository we are now making available via TeachEUR.

On one hand, this involves the need to think beyond immediate surroundings and engage with global issues. We do so by encouraging collaboration and constructive criticism to continually improve ourselves and, thus, our surroundings. On the other hand, fostering critical world citizenship skills can lead us to uncomfortable situations in which tensions within our community are laid bare. We are faced with questions about the purpose, meaning, and impact of our education: are we improving the status quo from within or are we tackling hegemonic powers upholding that status quo?; do we act as in- or outsiders?; can critical world citizenship be taught with or without practicing it?; if so, should that praxis be local or global in scope?

We do not claim to solve these issues, rather we believe that the skills in this toolbox are an invitation to engage in such discussions with courage and authenticity. More than ever, it is important that we teach our students how to think, not what to think.

The benefits of this exercise, so we hope, go well beyond EUC. Given its co-created nature, we hope it can be recognisable and use-able for both students and staff -despite it being imperfect. It is our hope that, eventually, this toolkit will serve an audience that transcends EUC, to include other EUR faculties and (civil) society partners. This may sound ambitious but we are adamant about giving back to the wider EUR community and consolidating EUC as a centre of expertise in critical world citizenship that can develop tools for real-life challenges.

The tension between viewing the university as a mere training ground or approaching it as a battleground of ideas is nothing new. In his days, Desiderius Erasmus did not hesitate to address the big problems of his era: the relation between science and religion; discussions about state and religion and the excesses of Catholic clergy. This took place in a context of early globalisation and nascent colonial imperialism. Erasmus proposed a humanist approach to confront major societal transitions in a world moving from isolationism towards incremental globalism; he questioned ethical principles of Christianity by broadening his scope of action in a very cosmopolitan way.

It is in the critical attitude Erasmus had vis-a-vis his environment that we, in all modesty, see potential to connect this toolbox. Navigating big issues of our times can be daunting for students and staff. Many of our students indicate that they feel overwhelmed by the burden of future challenges at various stages of their studies. While it is inevitable to experience obstacles during any learning trajectory, we believe that the ideal of critical world citizenship can be a force of emancipation.

On many fronts, this ideal can align with the aspirations guiding the identity, thinking, and actions at Erasmus University. In accordance with the Erasmian values of social engagement, transnationalism, cooperation, entrepreneurship, and open-mindedness, a critical world citizen does not let the scope of their actions be determined by national borders and the states they are legal citizens of. Instead, they think and operate beyond the boundaries of the state and aim to make a positive societal impact at a global level, without presumptions and mindful of others.

We are fully aware that teaching critical world citizenship skills is a tall order that is unlikely to be ever fully accomplished. It is our hope that this toolbox can offer some ideas or hooks to you if you are looking for concrete activities or exercises to experiment with in class settings. If, on the contrary, you are an expert in the field, we hope you will feel encouraged to point out gaps and blind spots in this toolbox. Or, better still, that you will reach out to contribute and address them in a constructive way.

Accurately serving such a vast audience in an exhaustive manner is impossible, therefore, an important caveat is in place. In many ways, this toolbox is a trade-off rather than an end-product: it is a selection of the broad array of skills, exercises, and resources available. We insist that this selection is intended to help you in managing expectations of change-ability that we may harbour as students, staff or practitioners. This is about sharing, about inspiring each other and, consequently, serves as a starting point for further exploration. Perhaps the main skill, then, of a critical world citizen is awareness that these skills are in permanent flux: that is the only way to relate constructively to others and to today’s issues. We wish you good luck, fun and failure all along.