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Imagining and practising citizenship in austere times, public lecture by John Clarke (Visiting Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, CEU)

Type: 
Lecture
Audience: 
Open to the Public
Speaker: 
John Clarke
Building: 
Oktober 6. u. 7
Room: 
Room 102
Monday, February 9, 2015 - 5:30pm
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Date: 
Monday, February 9, 2015 - 5:30pm to 7:00pm

Imagining and practising citizenship in austere times.

a public lecture by  

John Clarke (Visiting Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, CEU) 

Established conceptions of citizenship have been consistently under attack from a variety of directions. Anti-statism and anti-welfarism have undermined the array of legal, social and political rights while the revival of ethno-nationalist politics has given new impetus to questions of who is eligible to be a member of the ‘political community’. Austerity politics and policies in the European Union and elsewhere have further eroded the substance of social rights: reducing social benefits, welfare services and other forms of public spending.

In such times, how is citizenship imagined and practised in everyday settings? Drawing on a current study of Citizens Advice organisations in England, I ask how people deal with the question of citizenship. The emerging data suggests a complex field of negotiation, demanding some conceptual reflection on the complexities of conception and practice in everyday sites and relationships. In this presentation, I will explore a variety of conceptual resources to consider these shifting articulations of citizenship.