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Globalizing Citizens

Globalizing Citizens

Marjorie Mayo | Melissa Leach | Angela Alonso | Rajesh Tandon | Ian Scoones | Saturnino M. Borras | Steven Robins | Peter Newell CSGR | Rosalba Icaza | Rebecca Cassidy | Rebecca Napier-Moore | Jennifer C. Franco | Julie Thekkudan | Linda Waldman | Lyla Mehta | Marcelo Saguier | John Gaventa | Rajesh Tandon

(2010)

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Book Details

Abstract

Globalization has given rise to new meanings of citizenship. Just as they are tied together by global production, trade and finance, citizens in every nation are linked by the institutions of global governance, bringing new dynamics of inclusion and exclusion. For some, globalization provides a sense of solidarity that inspires them to join transnational movements to claim rights from global authorities; for others, globalization has meant greater exposure to the power of global corporations, bureaucracies and scientific experts, thus adding new layers of exclusion to already fragile meanings of citizenship. Globalizing Citizens presents expert analysis from cities and villages in India, South Africa, Nigeria, the Philippines, Kenya, the Gambia and Brazil to explore how forms of global authority shape and build new meanings and practices of citizenship, across local, national and global arenas.
Rajesh Tandon is the founder and executive director of PRIA (Society for Participatory Research in Asia), and has been an activist-scholar for the past three decades, focusing on issues such as citizenship and participatory governance, participatory research and building civil society alliances. In addition to his writing and scholarship, he has served as a civil society leader in India and internationally, including serving as a founding member and chair of CIVICUS, programme director of the Citizens and Governance Programme of the Commonwealth Foundation and chair of the Montreal International Forum (FIM). He has been active participant in the Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability and served as co-convenor of the working group on globalising citizen engagements. John Gaventa is a Research Professor and Fellow in the Participation, Power and Social Change Team at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. A political sociologist by training, he has written widely on issues of power, citizen action, participation and democracy, including the award winning Power and Powerlessness in an Appalachian Valley (1980) and Global Citizen Action (2001). He also has been active with a number of NGOs and civil society organisations internationally, including the Highlander Centre in the United States and Oxfam in the UK. He is the director of the Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability and served as co-convenor of the working group on globalising citizen engagements.
'Fascinating, original, painstakingly crafted case studies from diverse contexts are combined with probing conceptual reflections on the nature of rights and duties in today's more global society. Globalizing Citizenship develops a crucial and exciting agenda for the future.' Jan Aart Scholte, London School of Economics 'Through a collection of rich case studies, Gaventa and Tandon’s book insightfully explores the politics of mobilisation, the politics of intermediation and the politics of knowledge involved in ‘local’, ‘national’ and ‘global’ citizen action. The cases offer the reader realistic accounts of both global actions that have built solidarity and challenged the powerful, whilst also illustrating that sometime global citizen actions result in a reinforcement of powerful forces.' Helen Yanacopulos, The Open University

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
About the series\r i
About the editors ii
Acronyms vii
Foreword x
PART ONE | Introduction 1
1 | Citizen engagements in a globalizing world 3
Introduction 3
The changing nature of governance: new spaces for citizen engagements? 5
The implications of changing authorities for the meanings and practices of citizenship 8
Navigating the global terrain 15
Conclusions and implications 24
Notes 27
References 28
PART TWO | From global to local: the impact of global governance on everyday citizenship 31
2 | Mediated health citizenships: living with HIV and engaging with the Global Fund in the Gambia 33
Introduction 33
The Global Fund and shifting health governance structures 35
Global AIDS funding in the Gambia 39
Treatment support groups and citizen engagement with the Global Fund 43
Conclusions 50
Notes 53
References 54
3 | Mobilizing and mediating global medicine and health citizenship: the politics of AIDS knowledge production in rural South Africa 56
Introduction 56
Global health and AIDS activism in South Africa 58
Global medicine in local places: the contentious politics of AIDS knowledge 61
MSF’s biomedical foot soldiers in Lusikisiki village 63
Mediators of global medicine and contested ‘facts’ 67
Conclusion 75
Notes 76
References 77
4 | Enhancing everyday citizenship practices: women’s livelihoods and global markets 79
Introduction 79
Towards a more inclusive global governance 80
Project Shakti: a market-led solution for enhancing women’s livelihoods 82
Economic augmentation for rural women 84
Enhanced formal citizenship but limited empowerment 85
Spaces for representation and its legitimacy 87
Accountability of different actors 89
Inclusion and exclusion 91
Conclusion 92
Notes 93
References 95
5 | The politics of global assessments: the case of the IAASTD 96
Introduction 96
The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology (IAASTD) 97
Globalization and civil society: the place of international assessments 98
Experts and citizens 99
The politics of knowledge in global assessments 105
Conclusion 110
Notes 112
References 114
PART THREE | From local to global: the dynamics of transnational citizen action 117
6 | Campaigns for land and citizenship rights: the dynamics of transnational agrarian movements 119
Introduction 119
The emergence of transnational agrarian movements (TAMs) 121
The nature of the state 124
The politics of mobilization 126
The politics of intermediation 130
Knowledge politics 133
Conclusion 135
Notes 137
References 137
7 | Spanning citizenship spaces through transnational coalitions: the Global Campaign for Education 140
Introduction 140
Who governs education? Power across boundaries 141
The challenges of building transnational campaign coalitions 144
The case of the Global Campaign for Education 145
Five factors that make a difference to success 147
Implications for citizenship 153
Conclusions 156
Notes 160
References 161
8 | Citizenship and trade governance in the Americas 163
Introduction 163
The shifting landscape of trade governance in the Americas: implications for citizenship 165
The politics of mobilization on trade governance 170
Conclusions 177
Notes 181
References 182
9 | Mobilization and political momentum: anti-asbestos struggles in South Africa and India 185
The shifting nature of global authority 186
The asbestos industry 187
Table 9.1 Schematic comparison of anti-asbestos activism in India and South Africa 188
Anti-asbestos mobilization 189
Conclusion: anti-asbestos mobilization and possibilities for citizen agency 205
Notes 207
References 208
10 | Hybrid activism: paths of globalization in the Brazilian environmental movement 211
Changing patterns of mobilization 211
Trajectories of mobilization 213
The local–global path: the ISA case 218
Politics of intermediation 221
Hybrid activism 226
Notes 229
References 230
11 | Caught between national and global jurisdictions: displaced people’s struggle for rights 232
Citizenship and displacement in a globalizing world 232
Who is responsible anyway? 233
How do displaced people defy conventional notions of citizenship? 235
Global citizens? 245
Notes 249
References 250
About the contributors 253
Index 258