Second-Class Citizenship: Sociological Analyses and Educational Remedies

A number of features of the contemporary period are preventing people from exercising their citizenship: the acceleration and permanent change in the conditions shaping habitability of planet Earth, the digital and techno-scientific revolution, the rise of religious and political radicalisation, the explosion of social inequalities, the hegemony of the economic drive to maximise individual interests, etc. For many individuals, citizenship appears to be prevented at the first hurdle. What is more, though officially or legally, it is not possible to speak of second-class citizenship-- so what can be done when the actors themselves use such terminology? There is something essential here which must be taken into account as a basis for thinking about the social, its inequalities and its injustices. The authors of this book propose the notion of 'second-class citizenship' as a way of thinking about the scale of contemporary social and political inequalities. In view of this observation, the contributors outline a movement based on the conviction that education is the repository of the power to prepare for the future. How can we learn to build a shared world together and overcome the obstacles that prevent us from doing so? How can we learn new habits of relationships marked by responsibility and hospitality? The collective reflection in this book lends credence to the way in which players talk about their experience, even experiencing differences in their ability to participate in the mechanisms of power. This book presents empirical studies and conceptual tools for thinking about the impact of economic factors on the ways in which citizens participate in the decisions of power. This book is particularly suited for educators as well as policy-makers and researchers. 

Table of Contents:
PartI: Thinking about Citizenship in terms of the Difficulities Involed in Exercising It.- The challenges of citizenship in education when vulnerable citizens define themselves as "second-class citizens".- Thinking about citizenship from the perspective of the forgotten.- Homeless people: citizens in a situation of sub-citizenship?.- The challenges of citizenship for unaccompanied minor migrants in France.- Illiteracy and citizenship: a depiction of the state of play through three portraits of adults experiencing great difficulty in relation to writing.- Preparing for the future and citizenship at different ages of life – especially in its second half.-Responsible citizens or led leaders? The case of bosses in France.- Citizenship Challenged by Social Classes in Brazil and France.- PartII: Elements of Political Education.- Citizenship facing difficulties in Rwanda: how has ethnicity prevented the formation of a community of citizens?.- Global citizenship and cosmopolitan education.- Childhood: a time sheltered from citizenship?.- From downgrading in the juvenile experience to an education in politics.- Citizenship and adult education: the place of experience.-Teaching and raising awareness among students about the challenges of social justice: an educational device promoting exchanges between French and Swedish students.- Participation of the most disadvantaged, Epistemic justice and capabilities to act.- Digital: a tool for more citizen participation in election campaign? Between display and fluctuation around the concept of citizen participation during the French presidential election of 2012.- PartIII: Some Thoughts on the challenge of contemporary citizenship.- The civic efficacy of civic service, put to the test by social inequalities.- Let's Get Civilized! From citizenship as power to citizenship as potency.- A Critique of Citizenship through Practice.- The individual in the city: reflection on citizenship according to Paul Ricœur.- Transculturality.- The time of citizenship: a time to come?.- Towards citizenship for animals?.

About the Author :

Nathanaël Wallenhorst is Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Education at the Catholic University of the West (UCO). He is Doctor of Educational Sciences and Doktor der Philosophie (first international co-supervision PhD), and Doctor of Environmental Sciences and Doctor in Political Science (second international co-supervision PhD). He is the author of twenty-five books on politics, education, and anthropology in the Anthropocene. Together with Christoph Wulf, he is editor of the "Anthropocene - Humanities and Social Sciences" series at Springer-Nature and editor of the "Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene - Pluriversal perspectives" at Springer-Nature (Major Reference Work). He is member of the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG).

Eric Mutabazi is a senior lecturer, vice-dean, and member of the LIRFE research team at the Western Catholic University. He holds a doctorate in Educational Sciences and serves as an associate researcher at the University of Haute-Alsace (LISEC EA 2310) as well as an international collaborator at the University of Quebec in Montreal (GREE). He has edited several issues of scientific journals, with a particular focus on the topic of citizenship, and is the author of seven books.