[The author presents] the CIVICs model, a transcurricular approach aiming at the development of student's citizenship competence in schools. The model is based on the assumption that in order to develop into active citizens students need to be able to actively experience and to reflect upon democratic action in schools. The model rests on two pillars: "democratic forms of communication in the school" on the one hand and "students taking over responsibility in their school and community" on the other. These modular settings are supposed to enable students to develop democratic competence by means of action and reflection, beginning in primary education and ending with to the competition of secondary education. (DIPF/orig.).
Citizenship, when considered as a process influenced by the changing structures of work & community, can be improved by a highly mobilized civil society along with civic virtues & structures to facilitate democratic participation, including lifelong citizenship education. This need is evident when it is recognized that institutional & social structures constrain or empower people in acquiring the knowledge & competence for contributing to society. This neo-republican viewpoint argues for community education & the creation of structures such as neighborhood associations & revised workplace councils. Participation begins in the collective "free spaces" of life, which require protection & expansion. Citizenship at the individual levels is a complex interplay of rationality & subjectivity, which can be reconciled as social actors participate in shaping their social environments. Research comparing citizenship participation & career seeking in the UK & Germany sheds further light on these issues. 4 Tables, 1 Figure. L. A. Hoffman
Article 8 of the European Community (EC) Treaty defines EC citizens in economic terms, but laws providing for the free movement of persons between member states suggest that EC citizens might also have certain social rights. After outlining these limited social rights, the troubling question about the legal basis for EC social policies is addressed. How a broader interpretation of the principle of equal treatment, as provided in Article 6 of the EC Treaty, might expand the substantive content of EC citizenship is also discussed, as are the potential consequences of any extension of EC competence in the social field. M. Maguire
In: Die Natur der Gesellschaft: Verhandlungen des 33. Kongresses der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie in Kassel 2006. Teilbd. 1 u. 2, S. 5335-5346
"Levels of political involvement still are surprisingly different among European citizenries. Apparently, neither the establishment of democratic institutions nor the rise in competences among mass publics has lead to a convergence of the levels of political involvement. Only at a very general level, systemic differences can be noted between the settled democracies of North-western Europe and the newer democracies of Southern Europe. The analyses presented here examine several explanations of the cross-national differences in political involvement by developing multi-level models combining the impact of various factors at the individual and the macro level using the first wave of the European Social Survey (2002-2003) as the primary data source. The results show that of the social capital factors, only the support for norms and values contributes to the explanation of political involvement after the conventional antecedents at the individual level are taken into account. Neither social capital understood as an individual resource, nor social capital understood as a conditional effect at the macro level, appears to be very relevant for the explanation of differences in political involvement. Instead, the multi-level models tested here underline the relevance of conventional individual-level factors. Cross-national differences in political involvement are mainly due to differences in the distributions of these factors in the various countries." (author's abstract)
Contemporary models of digital inclusion and the digital divide assume that developing the digital literacy that enables individuals to participate in society is a sequential and linear process that is more or less similar for all individuals in all contexts and requires basic linguistic skills. This paper challenges these understandings, arguing that such a technical, normative perspective excludes marginalized and disadvantaged publics, such as low-(digital) literate citizens. Based on a longitudinal ethnographic study of low-literate Dutch adults, we show that the often-described causal relation between (digital) literacies, (digital) participation, and (digital) inclusion is not as evident as it seems and neglects the important socio-cultural contexts through which (digital) literacies are often gained and enacted in everyday practice. Consequently, we argue that current conceptualizations of (digital) inclusion and (digital) participation need to be rethought in terms of the limitations, potential, and capabilities of low-literate people.
Multilingualism, one of the major problems in the new reality, is considered to be of crucial importance for the European Union, as multilingualism can be identified as the phenomenon leading to the cultural diversity and protects the disappearance of certain languages, mostly regional and minority languages. The treaties and the decrees within the European Union aim at preservation of cultural and linguistic identities of every country. At the same time, the European Union gives the right to every citizen to have the dialogues with the European institutions in his own language. But, in practice, the things are not like in theory. So, we come across the questions: it is really possible to preserve the linguistic identity within the European Union environment? Or, is the application of multilingualism still a problem without solution? Even if the European Union tries to preserve the multilingual reality, from the practical point of view the reality is considered to be much more complicated. In this case, the multilingualism, within the European Union, is the problem still expecting solutions.
Undoubtedly, the modern democratic framework of higher education has to cultivate students' relevant skills such as democratic participation, cooperation, taking responsibility, strengthen trust in public institutions and constitutions, freedom of expression and decision-making, as prerequisites for future's active citizens. Exactly these goals are advancing in the student communities, the function of which has continuously served the principle of democratic representation. Therefore, through the understanding of learning as a social activity and a vehicle of innovation and productivity in society, we may conclude that higher education can be - and should be a multilevel way for social cohesion and promotion of democratic values by preparing students to be active citizens. The main aim of this paper is to assess the role of higher education in the current challenging circumstances, in the context of addressing new and old problems while fostering fairness, diversity and social inclusion, broadly, democracy and social cohesion. The paper will analyze the importance of higher education institutions in order to achieve that goals, by focusing on the usage of a combination of diverse and innovative methods and new technologies but without undermining academic and institutional integrity. A case study of an EU institution simulation will also be analyzed in order to show the importance of such actions and alternative ways of learning for achieving the enforcement of active citizens. The analysis will lead to policy proposals for integrating new methods to fundamental academic values in the current context in order to foster democracy and social cohesion.
Die Verfasserin stellt das Bundesmodellprogramm "Erfahrungswissen für Initiativen" vor, dessen Ziel es war, das Erfahrungswissen älterer Menschen durch die Ausbildung sogenannter seniorTrainerInnen für Initiativen, Vereine und Einrichtungen in unterschiedlichen gesellschaftlichen Bereichen zu aktivieren und nutzbar zu machen. Das Rollenmodell "seniorTrainerIn" stellt ein Angebot zur Rollenfindung für Ältere dar, das den besonderen biographischen Erfahrungen der neuen Altengeneration Rechnung trägt. Die Konzeption zur Nutzung des Erfahrungswissens Älterer umfasst vier Kernelemente: eine Anlaufstelle für bürgerschaftliches Engagement, eine Bildungseinrichtung, eine seniorKompetenzteam und die seniorTrainerInnen. Die seniorTrainerInnen verstehen sich als Unterstützer und Berater, Initiatoren neuer Projekte, Vernetzer im Gemeinwesen sowie Moderatoren und Koordinatoren. Bundesweit sind ca. 1000 seniorTrainerInnen aktiv. Die Gründung des Vereins "EFI Deutschland e.V." verstetigte die Arbeit des Modellprogramms in Deutschland; auf europäischer Ebene gibt es ähnliche Projekte wie beispielsweise das EU-Projekt "Lifelong Learning and Active Citizenship in Europe's Ageing Society (LACE)". (ICE2)
In: Soziale Ungleichheit, kulturelle Unterschiede: Verhandlungen des 32. Kongresses der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie in München. Teilbd. 1 und 2, S. 4498-4508
"Vor dem Hintergrund der laufenden Diskussion über freiwillige Vereinigungen als Zwischenträger in gesamtgesellschaftlichen Integrationsprozessen wird in dem Vortrag die These von freiwilligen Vereinigungen als Basis für den sozialen Zusammenhalt thematisiert. In einem ersten Schritt wird diese These, die in den aktuellen Diskussionen über Sozialkapital und Bürgerkompetenz eine zentrale Rolle spielt, zu analytischen Zwecken in 'binnen-' und 'außenintegrative Leistungen' von freiwilligen Vereinigungen differenziert. Darauf aufbauend wird ein begrifflicher Rahmen skizziert, der drei grundlegende Formen und Mechanismen unterscheidet, über die Individuen in eine freiwillige Vereinigung sozial einbezogen werden können: über Wissen und Kompetenzen ('kognitiv-prozedurale Dimension'), über Interaktionen und Beziehungen ('soziale Dimension') und über expressive Bindungsmotive ('affektiv-habituelle Dimension'). Erst wenn man von der Annahme ausgeht, dass ein Individuum über diese Formen und Mechanismen in eine freiwillige Vereinigung sozial einbezogen wird (Binnenintegration), lässt sich die Annahme formulieren, dass die Mitglieder in einer Vereinigung ggf. auch Fähigkeiten und Dispositionen erwerben, die für das sinnhafte, verständige und erfolgreiche Agieren in einem demokratischen Gemeinwesen generell bedeutsam sind (Außenintegration). Bedingung für den sozialen Einbezug in eine freiwillige Vereinigung über diese drei Dimensionen ist allerdings, dass ein Individuum Zugang zu dem Mitgliedschaftsstatus der jeweiligen Vereinigung erhält. Da dieser Inklusionsprozess eine fundamentale Voraussetzung darstellt, wird unter dem Begriff der 'strukturellen Dimension' die klassische Frage nach den sozialen Schließungsmechanismen beim Zugang zu freiwilligen Vereinigungen thematisiert. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser begrifflichen Differenzierung werden dann in einem zweiten Schritt die vier angesprochenen Integrationsdimensionen auf empirischer Basis untersucht. Grundlage dafür bildet eine umfangreiche Befragung von freiwilligen Vereinigungen aus sehr disparaten gesellschaftlichen Bereichen, die gegenwärtig im Arbeitsbereich Sport & Gesellschaft am Department Sport & Gesundheit der Universität Paderborn mit finanzieller Unterstützung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) durchgeführt wird." (Autorenreferat)