What is a global citizen? We asked, you answered. Here’s what you said:
Image: your responses, processed by Wordle
Firstly, a big thanks to everyone who took the time to answer the survey and to help with spreading the word. We had some fantastic results and it’s been really interesting reading your opinions!
The results in numbers:
We heard from 11 nationalities and 18 different countries
62% of respondents don’t live in their home country
78% of you said you want to be a global citizen
So what exactly is a global citizen?
The answers you gave could be divided into 4 broad ‘themes’.
The two themes which came up most often were to do with mobility and global awareness.
On the topic of mobility you said that global citizens are more likely to travel often and live in different places. They may also speak more than one language.
On global awareness you wrote about thinking beyond national boundaries and understanding what’s going on in the rest of the world. This is linked to a growing feeling of caring about what happens in other places and feeling responsible towards other people, wherever they are.
Global Culture blog wrote about the idea back in 2007, defining a global citizen as “a modern day phileas fogg”: or in other words someone who feels comfortable moving between cultures. And many of you agree – this was the third theme which came up in your answers.
The fourth theme you talked about is respecting other cultures.
For me, one of the most important points of being a global citizen is realising that differences are ok. Not just differences in appearance or family background, but also differences in behaviour and points of view. But that’s probably for another post…
Global Citizens live all over the world
When I first planned the survey, one of the objectives was to find out whether the concept of ‘global citizen’ has meaning throughout the world. In fact the responses were not dominated by any one nationality, which shows that the idea has indeed spread around the world.
You’ll see from the numbers above that more than half of the respondents are currently living abroad; others said they would like to. Since I assume there’s an element of self-selection (ie you were more likely to answer the survey if you already feel like a global citizen) then I think that indicates that people who identify with global citizens are more likely to have experienced living in more than one country.
But you don’t need to be an international jet setter to be a global citizen. As the results show, being a global citizen is mostly a state of mind.
If the future is an increasingly interconnected world, then as one of you wrote, global citizens are ‘ambassadors to the future’.
What you expected? Surprising? Tell me what you think
Read more:
Global migration and Europe’s population collapse
The most difficult languages in the world for English speakers
People of the World: interviews with global citizens
About the author
Lucy
I’ve been mulling over the Global Citizen article for a couple of days and it kind of left me scratching my head.
It seems the results of the survey point to it being a state of mind more than anything else. However, I think this is part of the fragility,and ultimately the weakness, of the definition.
It seems to me that defining oneself as a Global Citizen under most of the 4 characteristics listed in the article is the same argument as saying, “if you think you’re psychic, then maybe you are.” I.e., it would be better demonstrated by actions and evidence than by declarations and state of mind. By the same token, I would have a hard time taking a 20-year old Global Citizen seriously, even if that person had some travel under his or her belt. Is this too high a standard?
But then again, I also don’t think I travel to “countries” per se; I just travel to cities in those countries. But that’s another post.
Well, the one thing that was most clear from the survey was that the concept means quite different things to different people. And I think that comes from the fact that the definition is hazy, as you say.
I’d also argue that actions and evidence have to come from a certain state of mind. If you’re open to and absorb different cultures then that reflects in your actions. Of course it helps to travel, but that’s not the only way to learn about different cultures. I guess it’s also possible to travel without absorbing much of the local culture.
thanx alot this web- site helped 4 my exam!
thanks for commenting Sara! Glad to hear it
This helped me lots for my GC project!! THX Liz!
thnnxx . im doing an essay on being a global citizen and this help me a lot. so, thanks.
Glad we could help! Why don’t you write back and tell me what else we should have included?
Liz, thank you so much. I’m doing an essay about this and gladly I found this website. Thanks for the help.
It mainly refers to how well one can acculturate …
Good description and comments. Thanks I could get 50% idea about Global citizens. It helped me to write my essay. Thanks Liz!