Issues of citizenry and citizenship

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Issues of citizenry and citizenship

• Discussion Notes
• by
• CK Lal
• For a presentation at
• Centre for Constitutional Dialogue (CCD)
• Alpha Beta Complex, Baneshwar, Kathmandu
• September 3, 2009 Thursday 500 to 700 PM

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The power of definition

• Values inherent to a language
• Sanskrit mythologies, rituals, past, roots,
  faith.
• Nepali/Gorkhabhasha status quo, history, pride,
  tradition, hopes.
• Mother tongues Emotions, memories, dreams.
• Imperial Languages (English, French, German,
  Russian, Chinese) Power, strength, knowledge
• Market Language Scientific, logical, analytical,
  legal, MODERN.

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Market Languages

• English as a language of necessity in much of the
  modern world. Indispensable lingua franca.
• Hindi is the lingua franca of the region
• Nepali/Gorkhabhasha has powerful backers
• Mother tongues have become victim of linguistic
  genocide.
• Todays deliberations
• English, Nepali, Maithili, Hindi

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The notion of citizen

• Greek city states Citizen and denizen
• Citizen Property-owning men who could pay taxes,
  bear arms and volunteer to serve for public
  causes.
• Denizen women, serfs, slaves, servants,
  itinerant businessmen, journeyman, travelers,
  guest workers,

• Concentric Circles

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• The trajectory of evolution in Nepal
• Duniya Raiti Praja Janata
• NAGARIK

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The citizenry

• Citizen A person owing loyalty to and entitled
  by birth or naturalization to the protection of a
  state or nation.
• Citizenship The status of a citizen with its
  attendant duties, rights, and privileges.
• Citizenry the body of citizens of a state or
  country.

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State and the nation-state

• State
• A politically organized body of people under a
  single government (Constitution, Institutions,
  Instruments and Interrelationships)
• Also,
• A politically unified people occupying a
  definite territory (Sovereign right to raise
  taxes and maintain coercive force)
• Nation
• An aggregation of persons of the same ethnic
  family, often speaking the same language or
  cognate languages.

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Nation-State

• A territory built by conquest in which one
  culture, one set of ideals and one set of laws
  have been imposed by force or threat over diverse
  nations by a civilian and military bureaucracy.
  States are ephemeral and originate and disappear
  with the stroke of a pen (e.g. the end of the
  U.S.S.R., December 25, 1991). In 1993 there
  existed 191 states. Now, there are over 200.

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State-Nation

• Nation-State
• A political unit consisting of an autonomous
  state inhabited predominantly by a people sharing
  a common culture, history, and language.
• A sovereign state whose citizens or subjects are
  relatively homogeneous in factors such as
  language or common descent.

• State-Nation
• Imagined Community
• Not coercion but persuasion
• Fundamental Freedoms and the press
• Constitution
• Culture of democracy
• Citizens participation
• Conflict, compromises, consensus and cooperation

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Evolution of Citizenry

• Crises give rise to political ideas
• Eighteenth Century and the collapse of Mughal
  EmpireDuniya
• Consolidation of British Empire in 1850sRaiti
• First World War and Chandra ShamsherPraja
• Second World War and Independence of IndiaJanata
• Cold War decades and re-invention of Praja

• The Collapse of Soviet Union in 1990s
• Rise of Regional Powers
• Market as the most dominant force in politics
• Movement of labor across international borders
• Religion as the refuge of the marginalized
• Only a plural polity can face these multiple
  challenges

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Common aspirations

• Right to life of equality and dignity
• Recognition and respect of identity
• Opportunity and reparation of historic injustice
• Conflicting desires of individual freedom and
  social equality

• The system of governance gets crushed (the
  government uses force to stifle claims) or
  shattered (too many conflicting demands) under
  pressure

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Pessimistic prognosis

• Tyranny
• "A totalitarian political system encourages a
  culture of passivity and apathy. The regime seeks
  to mold an obedient and docile citizenry
•  

• Anarchy
• Armed gangs and warlords
• Safety of the tribal community
• Darwinism and rise of the Strong Ruler
• Tyranny

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The culture of democracy

• The behaviours, practices, and norms that define
  the ability of a people to govern themselves.
• the commitment of citizens who accept the
  inevitability of conflict as well as the
  necessity for tolerance.

• From tolerance to mutual respect
• Building partnerships

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Learning citizenship

• Participation

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The dilemma of a citizen

• Freedom and limits to freedom
• Equality and the desire to compete and excel
• Ties of family, caste, clan, tribe, culture
• The law of unintended consequences
• The uncertainty principle
• Doubts, debates and dialogue
• The idea of universalism

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The future of fear

• The rise leftwing or rightwing totalitarianism
  cant be ruled outMaoists, military or the mafia.

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The future of hope