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Arguably, universities are very well placed to promote global citizenship because they are ‘breathing spaces in life’s course’ (Kumar, 1997:29), that is, places where students have a unique opportunity to meet others from a diversity of backgrounds and to discuss and think with them. The questions in italics below capture some of those posed by students and academics in our discussions of global citizenship as a graduate attribute at the University of Wolverhampton.  These will be the basis for my discussion.

A broad starting point to conceptions of global citizenship comes from the philosopher, Hannah Arendt (in Fine, 2007: 126):

 “... One is a member of a world community by the sheer fact of being human...”

This universalist premise lies at the heart of the concept of global citizenship; it does not ignore our differences but it does make a strong plea to be mindful of our common humanity and, to use Arendt’s words again, to ‘take one’s bearings’ from this mindfulness.  Global citizenship is an ideal to aspire to and a way of positioning ourselves in all our encounters at home and abroad.  The notion of universalism, namely that there is a human condition common to all humans in all places at all times is much contested with some arguing that it keeps us grounded in our commonalities and basic rights as a species and others arguing that the universal is always defined by the privileged. 

Can universalism ever be universal? 

Of relevance to Arendt’s position is a growing literature that talks of global citizenship within a cosmopolitan*  frame (e.g. Appiah, 2007, Fine, 2007, Hill, 2000).  

Can universities be described as cosmopolitan spaces? 

Another relevant  literature is critical of multicultural and cultural identity approaches, e.g.  Badiou, 2002, Al-Azmeh, 1996, Sen (2006) and Malesevic, S (2006) Malik (2008) because they are felt to treat social differences as essential differences, thus undermining this sense that we are also members of a world community.  These writers do not underestimate the many divisions and inequalities in the world that make us socially different but they stress that the social is malleable and should not fix us in one place or one classification.

Sen (2006) cautions us against supporting inflated views of differences within a ‘mono multiculturalism’ in which we impute to others forms of fixed, rigid differences which we would never assign to ourselves. All human beings are shaped by a complexity of factors which can never be reduced to ethnicity, religion and nation. The idea of a global citizen is one that embraces this complexity, assigning to others the same ability to be reflective, critical, inventive and imaginative as they would assign to themselves (Dhanda, 2008).

Is our sameness the most difficult thing to explore?

For the global citizen, the world cannot be grasped through simplistic opposites like Christian/Islam or West/Non-west.  These oppositions conceal from view a long history of global interconnectivities, of cross-fertilisation of ideas, inventions, political systems, philosophical and ethical standpoints and so forth (Al-Azmeh, 1996 Bernal, 1986, Brotton, 2003, Said, 1994, Sen, 2006).  While some of this connectivity derives from warfare, colonialism, slavery and diaspora, it also comes from rich exchanges between and across cultures via trade, travel and collaboration.It is these latter exchanges which we need to strengthen and open up, particularly for today’s students. 

Does the notion of connectivity conceal the problem of global inequality?

We live in a century in which the possibilities for doing this are of an unprecedented scale.  At the click of a button, students, scientists, writers, politicians and so forth can share projects, discussions, debate and develop ideas in the virtual world.  Technology promises to shrink the world and this is particularly pertinent for the present ‘net generation’ of students in our universities Caruana, V and Spurling N (2006). 

Has the world got smaller and does this make it easier to position ourselves as a global citizen?

References

* Cosmopolitan - "... broadly, this approach centres on a search for our commonalities. Some see cosmopolitanism as a political, post-national ideal while others see it as an outlook, an attitude of mind rather than a system of government. Either way, cosmopolitanism does not imply a submergence of differences, rather it concerns an emphasis on the values we can share or generate together as global citizens; thus it is about exploring common ground and, arguably, universities are well positioned to facilitate this." (Cousin, G. - 2006- Beyond saris, samosas and steel bands, Academy Exchange, Issue 5, pp. 34-35)

Arendt, H cited in Fine (2007:126) Cosmopolitanism, London, Routledge

Appiah, A (2007) Cosmopolitanism: ethics in a world of strangers, New York, Norton

Aziz Al-Azmeh (1993) Islams and Modernities, London, Verso

Bernal, M (1987) Black Athena:the Afro-Asian roots of classical civilisation:  the fabrication of ancient Greece 1785-1985, Volume 1 Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey

Brotton, J (2003) The Renaissance Bazaar, Oxford, Oxford University Press

Caruana, V and Spurling N (2006) The Internationalisation of UK Higher Education: a review of selected material, York, Higher Education Academy http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/ourwork/tla/internationalisation/lit_review_internationalisation_of_uk_he_v2.pdf (accessed January 3, 2010)

Dhanda, Meena. (2008). The Negotiation of Personal Identity. Berlin: VDM Verlag Dr. Muller.

Fine (2007) Cosmopolitanism, London, Routledge

Hill, J (2000) Becoming a Cosmopolitan: What It Means to Be a Human Being in the New Millennium, Oxford, Rowman and Littlefield.

Kumar, K (1997) ‘The Need for Place’ in Smith A and Webster F (eds) The Postmodern University? Contested Visions of Higher Education in Society, SRHE/Open University Press, Buckingham

Said, Edward W (1994) Culture and Imperialism, London, Vintage

 

Sen, A ( 2006) Identity and Violence: the illusion of destiny, Penguin, London