citizenship and its dimensions

What is citizenship? Simply a legal status that entitles you to a passport? The act of casting a vote every few years? Or is it something more encompassing, complex, and essential to the way we live together?

Citizenship has many layers. At its base, citizenship grants us rights and privileges: to vote in elections, to live and work in a country, and to enjoy the protection of law. But there’s more to it than that; citizenship calls us to meet responsibilities too—ones we’re expected to uphold in order to improve our community, our nation, and the world.

It’s easy to overlook this critical role. Our pursuit of personal happiness and success is certainly important. But our actions, or our inaction, have far-reaching effects.

This book hopes to shed light on what it means to be a citizen in the fullest sense of the word—more than just legalities and politics. To explore what citizenship means is to engage with our shared values, communal duties, and mutual aspirations.

This is a book for those who want to better understand the role they play—or could play—in society. For those who want to learn how to actively contribute to their communities and the world.

And it’s for those who perhaps haven’t given it much thought.

In the chapters that follow, we’ll look at the multiple dimensions of citizenship, examining the ways it affects our daily lives. We’ll explore the connection between citizenship and democracy, our rights and responsibilities, the ways in which citizenship intersects with social issues, and how our actions as even local citizens matter on a global scale.

This examination may challenge some deepest-held beliefs, and might prod questions about current practices. But that’s the point: to truly understand citizenship is to consider, discuss, and, ultimately, transform.

Keep an open mind. Stay curious. Read with an intention to become a more informed, responsible, and engaged citizen.