- You are able to explain, analyse and discuss various aspects of change, citizens’ initiatives and institutional responses, and ensuing debates.
- You develop your own critical viewpoints on contemporary dilemmas regarding the mobilisation of change, in relation to concrete events, cases and situations, both in development cooperation and in citizens’ initiatives in postwelfare societies.
- You are able to analyse and explain the similarities and differences between the different domains discussed in the course.
- You are able to communicate your well-argued understanding of contemporary dilemmas regarding the mobilisation of change both orally and in writing.
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In this thematic course you become familiar with debates and dilemmas regarding citizens’ initiatives and institutional responses in different contemporary settings. First, the course problematises the concept of change. What is change? How do inequality and uneven power relations affect, impede or give rise to change? Do we want to contribute to it? And if so, how can we do this? We critically assess the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the notion of active citizenship as possible frameworks for instigating change, both on an individual and a collective level.
Discussing change, we will zoom in on recent developments in two domains:
- The increasing role of citizens in development cooperation and the responses by institutional actors. We start from the idea that development cooperation is no longer the prerogative of traditional actors but that citizens (individually and collectively) play a central role. Citizen actions then may range from sharing content on Instagram to sustainable consumerism and from volunteering in the Global South to setting up their own civil society organisation (CSO).
- Citizens’ initiatives and responses by the state in European societies. In a context of state withdrawal from many areas of social provision and increasing citizen responsibilization, we look at (voluntary) projects such as food banks, neighbourhood watches, refugee assistance, and social movements. We discuss the shifting state-citizen relationship and its consequences and analyse the tensions between the notions of active citizenship and activism.
We will discuss, in both domains, the relationships between the state, CSOs and residents in a context of neoliberal governance. What are the arenas around specific projects and what interests play a role? Analysing these arenas and understanding them within the CAOS literature, we will examine questions of representation, professionalisation, informality, inclusion and exclusion, and accountability. At the end of the course, we will discuss similarities and differences between the two domains.
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| This course is open to Master students from other programs, pending approval by the course coordinator. Please email the course coordinator for more information. |
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