Control & Citizenship
Seems like they go hand in hand, can’t have one without the other. That’s what I initially assumed. The one in control gets to decide what makes a ‘citizen’ or a ‘non-citizen’. But upon closer inspection, there are nuances around the ways a citizen has control in their own citizenship. In Citizenship, E. Isin calls to the four senses of citizenship;
“…rather than approaching citizenship as always already given, we need to approach it through its performative senses. Four such senses can be distinguished:
citizenship (in) theory, where citizenship is imagined, expressed and contested
citizenship (in) practice, where citizenship is inhabited through rituals, routines and norms in everyday lives
citizenship (in) law, where citizenship is codified, organized, collated and arranged
citizenship (in) acts, where citizenship is cited, iterated, signified and interrupted by people taking liberties.”
These distinctions can ebb and flow between one another, a sliding scale of how deeply we believe in our power as citizens vs. how much of our power is being recognized by those in control. A citizen with power might be someone that provides important services to their community, just without official citizenship documentation. An active citizen might attend public meetings, even if they don’t understand the process. An engaged citizen might be someone who volunteers daily, organizes tenants and never votes. These intersections help us understand the nuances of our practices, feelings, or behaviors as citizens. Kligler-Vilenchik, N. reminds us of the dangers of being too categorical in our models of citizenship, and that we need to be open to ever evolving definitions and understandings of how citizenship takes meaning:
“The oft-heard claims that citizenship is in decline, particularly for young people, are usually based on citizenship indicators derived from these legacy models—the informed/dutiful citizen. Such indicators include decrease in voting levels, trust in politicians, or following of mainstream news. Yet scholars are increasingly positing an alternative interpretation: that such trends are not indicators of citizenship declining, but rather changing its form. According to this argument, young people today are attracted toward a different model of citizenship, one that values self-expression, creativity, and direct action.”
Kligler-Vilenchik, N.
What it means to be a good citizen is evolving, and participation is becoming decentralized. Great things can be accomplished when there is a generational shift in mindset around citizenship.
Are these alternative citizenship models a pathway to new practices of collective power?
Particularly participatory civics, how does the citizens’ participation in media extend their power to effect change? A people-powered social media movement can change more minds than your run of the mill “Get out the Vote” campaign.
Sources:
Isin, E. (2021) Citizenship
The first installment of a blog series that explores topics discussed during the fall 2022 Nonviolent Communication course at Columbia College Chicago.
