Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the theoretical understandings of what it means to be an active citizen and whether active citizenship offers community led new social and political opportunities and innovation in contexts of both developed and developing countries.

Paper long abstract:

Conceptualisations of citizenship can be located to Aristotelian ideas of moral consensus, ethics of self-cultivation for personal excellence, human flourishings and insights into deliberative powers. The concept has been and continues to be the subject of intense debate in moral and political philosophy while inviting an equally vigorous discourse in social science. This paper explores the theoretical understandings of what it means to be an active citizen and whether active citizenship offers community led new social and political opportunities and innovation in the contexts of developed and developing countries. The study is based on the 'Active Citizens' project supported by the British Council in several countries. The present paper draws on the findings from the project participants in the UK, Bangladesh, and Jordan.

The purpose of the paper is four fold. First, to seek theoretical insights into active citizenship locating it in the literature that takes forward citizenship to active citizenship, drawing out key thematic domains of this transition. Second, to examine the 'Active Citizens' project within these key themes and extend the theoretical boundaries to capture and analyse the data. Third, to explore why some members in communities become active citizens and to identify the drivers of active citizenship in different contexts. Fourth, based on the primary data from the project, identify pathways that lead to positive outcomes, social novelties and achievements of the active citizens.