Citizenship beyond the state

Abstract:

The increasing integration of Europe is suggested by some to pose a threat to the nation state and with it the notion of citizenship. This text offers a new insight into the concept of citizenship.

The work is organised over three parts. The first part, 'Definitions and Debates', deals with the state and democracy. The author addresses issues such as citizenship as membership of a state, arguing that this concept is seen as divisive rather than inclusive, bringing with it the resort to violence to secure the 'common good'. Democracy is examined and its close identification with the state strongly challenged. An alternative model of cosmopolitan democracy involving formation of regional parliaments is put forward for discussion. Part two, 'Barriers to Democratic Citizenship', includes chapters on the state and nationalism, gender and violence, capitalism, class and social rights, participation and globalisation. Part three, 'The Future of Democratic Citizenship', explores such areas as emancipation, Marxism and Anarchism as agents of transformation, and new social movements (NSMs), and evaluates the Crick Report on Education for Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy! in Schools. The work closes with a conclusion.

The work will interest scholars and students of politics and sociology for whom the questions of state, nationality, power and identity remain of central importance.

John Hoffman is Professor of Political Theory at the Department of Politics, University of Leicester.

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