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How should we rethink the concept of citizenship? Is it still a value as it has been thought of so far? Giovanni Moro, Angela Taraborrelli and Ruper Strachwitz replied to these questions on 9 July during the first of a series of webinars promoted by Civiltà Cattolica and Georgetown University.

Through the partnership between La Civiltà Cattolica and Georgetown University, a webinar series dedicated to "Civil Issues" was initiated.  This series will take place between July and December 2020.

The first of the scheduled webinars - "The future of citizenship" - was held on 9 July. Global challenges have disputed traditional concepts of citizenship which were founded on nationalism. The crisis triggered by Covid-19 is just one of the most recent examples of the increase in trans-national interdependence, starting from health and the economy to politics and the environment. To what extent should we reconsider citizenship as a way of living within a cultural, religious and political ambience together?

States and Citizenship

During the webinar - introduced by the director of La Civiltà Cattolica, Antonio Spadaro SJ, and coordinated by the representative of Georgetown University in Rome, Debora Tonelli - Giovanni Moro (political sociologist, La Sapienza University - Rome), Rupert Graf Strachwitz (political scientist and historian, Maecenata Institute - Berlin) and Angela Taraborrelli (Associate Professor of Political Philosophy, University of Cagliari) discussed the future of citizenship starting from different disciplinary areas.

Citizenship is a concept which was ignored until the early 1990s, its only identification being the passport. Then there was an awakening of interest in it, but it did not lead to a proper definition. «It is a device for the inclusion, cohesion and development of democratic society» Giovanni Moro highlighted «in relation to three components: recognition at a political, juridical and social level; the advantage of guaranteed and recognized standard of living rights and also the duty of solidarity; finally, participation in defining the standard aims and rules of competition within the political community ».

Citizenship is also defined in the "deeds, sentences and contracts that characterize its substance and practices". The canonical model inherited from the 1900s, which is linked to national borders, is no longer relevant today. This was verified by migration, loss of state power, the mixture of identities, and the development of communication.

"The concept of citizenship has not died out, but it is undergoing transformation", starting from gender identity, to forms of political participation, to European citizenship itself.

National State and Cosmopolitan State

"There are 10 million stateless people in the world," said Angela Taraborrelli, "and some states are unable to guarantee rights." Although world states have signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, often the individual has found no channels through which he can claim global citizenship rights. "It is a question of adding cosmopolitan citizenship to national citizenship and not replacing it," she emphasized. "The European model should be followed, a model which permits citizens without national protection to find protection not only as refugees but as cosmopolitan citizens, guaranteeing financial support through contributions made by the rich and not by the poorest strata of society".

It is a challenge for states "to become cosmopolitan, recognizing the rights of migrants living in their territory, not relegating them to feudal privileges as is being done by some liberal states, which have accepted to support them financially but have refused to grant them the right of citizenship".

Multiple citizenship

Rupert Strachwitz spoke about multiple citizenship. «The world is not only made up of different nations. Many feel that they are citizens because of other realities such as religion or the way civil society expresses itself. Particularly, young people in reality identify themselves as associations, such as Amnesty and Fridayforfuture.

European citizenship is very different from US citizenship, which finds its roots in the 1800s. If it is more open it will result in a stable society that includes differences, otherwise it will not work. " An important role in this process where some nations are more ahead of others, is that of religious communities.

The outcome that finally emerged was the general dissatisfaction with old concepts of citizenship and the responsibility of the city to become more inclusive.  The challenge is that of building "communities with a common destiny", citizenship education and the fact that a large number of people are seeking answers.

During the "Civil Issues" webinar series Italian and international experts will continue to discuss current issues in the fields of culture, society, politics and the Church.

The partnership between La Civiltà Cattolica and Georgetown University has already produced the initiative of the China Forum for the Dialogue between Civilizations (https://chinaforum.georgetown.edu/).

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