Introduction
Citizenship is a multifaceted term that evokes respective emotions and bestows certain privileges and restraints on the inhabitants of a land. The widely excepted term for citizenship is “the state of being vested with the rights, privileges, and duties of a citizen” and a citizen is defined as the “character of an individual viewed as a member of society; behavior in terms of the duties, obligations, and functions of a citizen” (citizenship, 2019). Citizenship also has many aspects in terms of the official reignition of belonging to a country and the much-overlooked cultural aspect of belonging. Cultural citizenship not only defines the citizenry by the right of belonging within a nation-state but also values the political and social rights of the citizens. Besides, cultural citizenship advocates for the inclusion of the state members in the state's activities and cultures irrespective of the being an alien or citizen. Therefore, the citizens require recognition and empowerment within the cultural values (Carens & UPSO, 2000). The concept of cultural citizenship has raised concern to the public because it advocates for inclusion and exclusion in the political and social issues within society. Cultural citizenship expects that the state observes the social-political rights and the full recognition of minority groups. The aspect of inclusion and exclusion is a rising concern because society does not consider minority groups and cultures when making policies making them to suffer because their culture is eroded by nature which forcefully assimilates them consequently the heritage disappears. For instance, the United States has minority groups like the Negro Americans and African Americans who were neglected in the activities because they were considered aliens. The Cultural Citizenship concept advocated for the full and active presence in all the dimensions like religion, politics, and social life within the respective states. This paper compares, contrasts, and critiques issues of inclusion and exclusion regarding cultural citizenship. The document outlines the problems of inclusion and exclusion, and finally, the article makes comparisons, contrasts, and critiques the issues while giving an example with Europe and American societies.
Issues in inclusions in cultural citizenship
The inclusion issues are a rising concern in cultural citizenship because this is one of the significant issues addressed elaborating on cultural citizenship. Inclusion is defined as a process of serving all the interests of citizens in both the cultural, political, and social domains. Integration is essential because it plays a central role in the location of social, political, and cultural rights to minorities (Banks, 2008). The government of nation-states should work in the inclusion of all the people within the state irrespective of citizenship because today the globe stays connected through the effect of globalization. In essence, inclusion requires that the citizens get all the primary services and fundamental rights irrespective of being an aliens or a citizen. The issues in the integration are outlined as follows. First, the problem in inclusion is explained using the concept of cultural rights and multicultural citizenship as elaborated by the assimilationist, universal conception of citizenship and liberals. They argue that a citizen must outdo personal culture and first language so one to be a full civic participant of a nation-state (Banks, 2008). The nation-state develops a national culture that should befit everyone in the state so that all people are integrated into the activities of the nation. The assimilationist theory requires that the government develops policies that enhance uniformity in the rules. For instance, the United States introduced the ethnic revitalization movement in the 1960s where the schools were to use one common language that is universal to the whole state. Multicultural citizenship also elaborates inclusion in a different dimension by arguing contrary to the composition as explained by the concept of cultural rights and multicultural citizenship. Multicultural citizenship stands for an individual right instead of the group's interests (Zapata-Barrero, 2016). The Liberalists argue that personal right should be unrestrained of primordial and cultural connections to have free choice and choices in a restructured self-governed civilization because the secure attachments to the identity groups create conflicts such that each group wants to appear superior to other groups (Krieken, 2001). The other issue in the inclusion requires that the liberal democrats provide support to the minority groups in society so that all the people become equal in society. Typically, integration is a means of bringing the people of a nation-state together through enhancing similarity in the political right, and cultural rights, and advocating for individual rights in the society.
Issues in exclusion in cultural citizenship
Social exclusion addresses the political nature of deprivation, by scrutinizing the relations between people, the deficiency of citizenship reputation and their intensities of scarcity. Citizenship is concentrated on the capacity of exercising personal, and communal privileges, as well as disparities, to produce a societal grading, constituting of first and second-class populaces (Philip, 2018). This shows that not all persons are alike before the rule, and there is no similar admittance to public properties delivered by the nation. Administrative features of exclusion can comprise of the absence of political rights like luck of political contribution and the right to form alienation from lack of self-assurance in political courses and the lack of liberty of expression and parity of prospects. The exclusion issues have affected the United States in different dimensions because minority groups were excluded in social and political issues. minority groups have ever challenged the exclusions through protests and court petitions as a means of seeking justice. The exclusion principle explains how minority groups are deprived from social and political and fundamental freedom, and on several occasions, the people are treated as aliens.
Comparison of the inclusion and exclusion
Both exclusion and inclusion examine the relationship of people in society based on their status of political and social rights. The inclusions and exclusions address the issues of inequality in society and advocate for equality. The integration requires that every member of the community should be treated fairly and not forced with cultures that one does not belong. Typically, one should seek to follow a personal lifestyle despite being a citizen or an alien. Similarly, the exclusion examines the instances that members of the minority in the society are left behind politically, socially and culturally. Moreover, the concepts of inclusion and exclusions develop the means of enhancing integration and cohesion in society (Leeuw, arc, Wichelen, & Sonja, 2012). Exclusion and inclusion issues indicate that the world is global and administrations should work in creating a new culture of cohesion that would unify the whole world and hence limiting divisions in society. Additionally, exclusion and inclusion affect minority groups because the significant groups tend to alienate the minority through social and political issues, also considering them as aliens who should not demand for their rights. In essence, exclusion and inclusion issues address the causes for the infringement of the rights of minority groups in society. This explains the reasons why there is ethnicity in the United States and Europe.
Construct in the issues of inclusion and exclusion
The exclusion and inclusion in cultural citizenship have differences while addressing the problems of social integration and cohesion. The primary differences that exist between inclusion and exclusion, as discussed in cultural citizenship are outlined as follows. The first difference lies in the function of each concept, as addressed in the theory of cultural citizenship. Inclusion examines the means through which people can be brought together in society while exclusion examines the factors that cause exclusion in the community (Krieken, 2001). The other contrast of issues of exclusion and inclusion exists in the view of society. The integration does not advocate for the majority, but the right of each and says that every person must not be considered; hence, it supports the voice of the minority. On the other hand, exclusion advocates the rights of the minority but through a group entity. For example, in exclusion, the minor ethnic groups of the United States or Europe should be considered while developing the policies hence covering the whole group.
Critique
The exclusion and inclusion in cultural citizenship can be critiqued both positively and negatively. The positive evaluation shows that both exclusion and inclusion issues lead to the development of a cohesive society where all the people are considered in the political and social problems. Both inclusion and exclusion requires that everyone is treated fairly when offering social and political privileges to members in society (Krieken, 2001). Conversely, there is a negative critique that exists in each of the concepts of cultural citizenship. The exclusion explains the disadvantages of segregation in society while it does not offer the solutions on the activity that one should take to rectify the situation. Inclusion requires that the individual right of each member is served in society. However, it is not practical that the power of every individual can be served. One can criticize inclusion and exclusion positively and negatively.
Conclusion
Cultural citizenship works in a globalized society where people from different nations with different cultures interact for various purposes. Cultural citizenship develops concepts that are used in building a cohesive community through the theory of inclusion and exclusion. The paper compares, contrasts, and critiques issues of inclusion and exclusion as explained in the domains of cultural citizenship. The paper first describes the problems in inclusions where the article indicates that the liberals advocate for service for the individual interest while in the exclusion, the group interest should come to limit exclusion in the society. The paper compares the concepts of inclusions and exclusions and finally criticizes them both positively and negatively.
References
- Banks, J. A. (2008). Diversity, Group Identity, and Citizenship Education in a Global Age. Educational Researcher, 129–139.
- Carens, H. J., & UPSO. (2000). Culture, citizenship, and community: a contextual exploration of justice as evenhandedness / Joseph H. Carens. New York:: Oxford University Press.
- 'Citizenship.' Dictionary.com. 2019. https://www.dictionary.com (30th May 2019).
- Krieken, R. v. (2001). Reshaping Civilization: Liberalism between assimilation and cultural genocide1. Retrieved May 30th, 2019, from https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/41758/3/RobertvK.
- Leeuw, D., Marc, Wichelen, v., & Sonja. (2012). Civilizing migrants: integration, culture and citizenship.
- Philip, H., (2018). Indigeneity and Global Citizenship Education: A Critical Epistemological Reflection. The Palgrave Handbook of Global Citizenship and Education, 209-223.
- Zapata-Barrero, R., (2016). Diversity and cultural policy: cultural citizenship as a tool for inclusion. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 534–552.