Ordinary Citizenship
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: Politics and International Studies
Abstract
We often ask what makes a good citizen, but we rarely ask what makes an ordinary citizen. The ordinary citizens are the 'not-so-good' citizens, citizens for whom politics and political participation are not objects of great enthusiasm. We often disparage them: we regret their ignorance of current affairs, their apathy, their selfishness; and we lament the wider civic decline they are seen to embody. We also try to 'repair' them by making them into better citizens: better informed, more likely to vote and volunteer, more polite and public-spirited. A 2018 UK government report identified as a core challenge the need to promote a society 'whose members are encouraged and enabled to participate as active citizens' (Select Committee on Citizenship and Civic Engagement).
But we do all of this without thinking carefully about what ordinary citizenship is and what role it plays in a democracy - we think of ordinary citizens only in terms of what they lack and of how we might improve them. This oversight is not just a matter of theoretical interest: the stigmatisation of ordinary citizens has been exploited by populist political movements which have fostered social division by strategically and often cynically positioning themselves as defenders of the ordinary people against a more politically savvy elite. The central aim of this project is to counter those tendencies and to create and sustain a healthier democracy by showing that ordinary citizenship plays a vital role in political life. The project will ask what it really means to be an ordinary citizen and will propose a re-evaluation of those who fall short of our civic ideals. Instead of denigrating them, we should seek to accommodate them, whilst learning how to foster the distinctive qualities and dispositions their role demands.
To achieve these goals, we need to understand better how ordinary citizens understand themselves. And this requires a somewhat unusual approach that departs from the often abstract methods of conventional political philosophy. By working on the ground with local democracy activists and ordinary citizens themselves, and by combining those activities with an extensive interdisciplinary study of everyday citizenship, the project will develop a rich account of the situated experience of ordinary citizens. That account will then inform the conceptual and normative enquiry that lies at the project's centre.
Working closely with practitioners, the project will inspire new approaches to understanding and cultivating citizenship beyond formal democratic institutions. It will achieve this through a sequence of knowledge exchange activities aimed at the development of a smartphone app to evaluate the civic engagement of users generating a 'citizen score' and associated ranking. By working, first, with citizens themselves, and subsequently with an on-line learning platform (project partner, Hive Learning) and civil society organisations like Notwestminster and Democratic Society, activities will explore the ethical and technical shortcomings of the enterprise. In so doing, the project will generate fresh insights about what it means to be a citizen and about the possibilities and limitations of technology in the service of local democracy.
But we do all of this without thinking carefully about what ordinary citizenship is and what role it plays in a democracy - we think of ordinary citizens only in terms of what they lack and of how we might improve them. This oversight is not just a matter of theoretical interest: the stigmatisation of ordinary citizens has been exploited by populist political movements which have fostered social division by strategically and often cynically positioning themselves as defenders of the ordinary people against a more politically savvy elite. The central aim of this project is to counter those tendencies and to create and sustain a healthier democracy by showing that ordinary citizenship plays a vital role in political life. The project will ask what it really means to be an ordinary citizen and will propose a re-evaluation of those who fall short of our civic ideals. Instead of denigrating them, we should seek to accommodate them, whilst learning how to foster the distinctive qualities and dispositions their role demands.
To achieve these goals, we need to understand better how ordinary citizens understand themselves. And this requires a somewhat unusual approach that departs from the often abstract methods of conventional political philosophy. By working on the ground with local democracy activists and ordinary citizens themselves, and by combining those activities with an extensive interdisciplinary study of everyday citizenship, the project will develop a rich account of the situated experience of ordinary citizens. That account will then inform the conceptual and normative enquiry that lies at the project's centre.
Working closely with practitioners, the project will inspire new approaches to understanding and cultivating citizenship beyond formal democratic institutions. It will achieve this through a sequence of knowledge exchange activities aimed at the development of a smartphone app to evaluate the civic engagement of users generating a 'citizen score' and associated ranking. By working, first, with citizens themselves, and subsequently with an on-line learning platform (project partner, Hive Learning) and civil society organisations like Notwestminster and Democratic Society, activities will explore the ethical and technical shortcomings of the enterprise. In so doing, the project will generate fresh insights about what it means to be a citizen and about the possibilities and limitations of technology in the service of local democracy.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Derek John Edyvane (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Griffin A
(2023)
Violence against a backdrop of colours? Ethnographic insights into tensions between urban transformation and ongoing violence in marginalised neighbourhoods
in Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space
| Title | Colombian Street Art: Mostrando la diversidad cultural |
| Description | The photographic exhibition presented the outcome of a visit to the North East from renowned Colombian street artist, DJLU/Juegasiempre, who paid homage to Colombia's social diversity through portraits of important community leaders. Charting the progress of the mural, the images shed light on the specific production process of street art, including the encounters that took place with members of the public and the development of the work, from preparing the walls to sketching outlines, stencilling and adding the final touches. Location: Old Library Building, Newcastle University. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | The exhibition was part of the revitalisation of the Old Library Building's second floor at Newcastle University and the first to showcase the work of (former) students and colleagues in the School of Modern Languages. The launch included a guided tour of the exhibition to university students, discussing the process of curation, details of the artist and his broader work, and the main topics covered in the mural. |
| Description | Building on existing research emphasising the importance to political theory of an 'ethnographic sensibility', which consists in deepening understanding of the situation and perspective of ordinary people, the project developed an improved method for cultivating that sensibility. Instead of relying on, or engaging in, first-order ethnographic fieldwork, we prioritised engagement with depictions of ordinary life in literature, art, documentary photography, TV and film. This approach necessitated the creation of an unconventional 'literature review' method, which we deployed across all of the project work. Details of that method are elaborated and defended in Edyvane's forthcoming book, The Politics of Politeness (contracted to Oxford University Press). We used this method to investigate the political significance of 'ordinary citizenship', which plays out across the routine, everyday interactions of strangers in the city. In so doing, we identified four core 'habits' of ordinary citizenship that exemplify its political significance. These habits, which are elaborated at length in Edyvane's book, include: (i) flexibility, improvisation, and tolerance of embarrassment; (ii) studied inattentiveness, discretion, and the reluctance to speak up; (iii) the capacity for responsible rudeness and a willingness to tolerate the responsible rudeness of others; (iv) a sense of dignity in everyday hierarchies and kindness in the navigation of those hierarchies. The preoccupation with 'good citizenship' in our politics and society means that we have tended to disdain or ignore these habits, but our research suggests that this is a serious error. The habits of ordinary citizenship play a vital civic role and need to be taken seriously in understanding democratic health and in programmes of citizenship education. We also used our novel method to understand better the role of youth culture, and the specific case of graffiti practice, as an under-appreciated mode of civic engagement. Combining literature, art and film from both the Global North and Global South on youth politics and citizenship, we found that the practice of graffiti provides opportunities for constructive social relations, engagement with place and development of critical thinking, particularly in the face of state violence and political disenchantment. On the basis of these findings, which are elaborated in Griffin's book (published by Pittsburgh University Press in 2023) and in a forthcoming article by Griffin, we conducted a normative investigation of the ethics of uncivil (or 'ugly') graffiti. Whilst typically condemned as a kind of anti-social vandalism, we developed a new and more nuanced vocabulary for the evaluation of graffiti practice, which recognises its potentially powerful political functions and provides a framework for its responsible use. These findings are elaborated in a forthcoming article co-authored by Edyvane and Griffin. |
| Exploitation Route | Our findings might be taken forward by government departments seeking to improve the quality of citizenship. Our research shows that initiatives in this vein have often been too narrowly focused on a model of 'good citizenship' that we have discredited, and in doing so have inadvertently reinforced a socially divisive populist narrative. Relatedly, our findings might also be put to use by educators engaged in programmes of civic or citizenship education. Again, those programmes have generally overlooked the democratically vital habits of 'ordinary citizenship' that the project identifies and elaborates. Our collaboration with Hive Learning in the development of design principles for civic technology might be used by the information technology sector working with government to develop new software and technology (e.g. 'smart city' technology) to inform their approach to the creation of technology supportive of the habits of ordinary citizenship. Finally, our work on the political significance and responsible use of graffiti might usefully be taken forward by government and third sector organisations dedicated to improving the urban environment. Whilst graffiti is often condemned simply as a blight on the urban landscape, our findings offer a more nuanced perspective showing how graffiti can provide an important channel for democratic engagement. |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Environment Government Democracy and Justice |
| URL | https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/politics-research-expertise/dir-record/research-projects/1228/ordinary-citizenship |
| Description | We have been pleased by the enthusiastic response to our research from the non-academic audiences we have worked with during the project, especially those in the technology industry and the general public. Impact on the general public is intangible and very difficult to quantify, but it is tremendously important for a project of this kind which has aimed to change the way people think about themselves as citizens. We often found that the most significant impact of our engagement activities was in the way in which it prompted participants to reflect anew in their capacity as citizens, rather than in their capacity as practitioners, students, engineers, etc. For example, it was evident from our discussions of 'ugly graffiti' in the Making Politics Matter seminar in Canterbury that student participants had begun to think differently about their perceptions of the urban environment. And, in our workshop at Notwestminster, it was gratifying to see participants realise how much they took trust in their fellow citizens for granted. These experiences signalled to us work still to do in further mobilising and broadcasting our findings in such a way as to build new spaces for ordinary citizens to reflect on their civic practice. We have aimed to achieve this through a diversity of means including blog posts, public events, exhibitions and podcasts. A more directly tangible outcome of the project involved the collaboration with project partner, Hive Learning. In the event we organised with Hive we brought together a team of software engineers and data scientists to co-create a set of design principles for civic technology. As well as fuelling valuable discussion on the day, the collaboration has provoked wider commercial interest from potential industry partners seeking to develop new civic technologies using our research. Activities here are ongoing as we remain in contact with partners at Hive and beyond and finalise a report based on our collaborative work. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
| Description | Leeds Social Science Institute International Strategic Research Partnership Fund |
| Amount | £6,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Leeds |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2023 |
| End | 07/2023 |
| Description | Academic-Practitioner Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A mixed audience of 20 academics, postgraduate researchers, and practitioners attended an end of project workshop organised by the project team in dialogue with practitioners, industry and third sector organisations, and dedicated to the theme of 'Futures of Everyday Citizenship'. The event enabled us to broadcast the outcomes generated by our separate hackathon event, and stimulated increased interest in the research project. The event also served as the inception of an academic-practitioner network with plans in train for future collaborative activities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Blog post (Against Good Citizenship) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | PI produced a blog post entitled 'Against Good Citizenship' intended to provide an accessible and engaging introduction to the research project and preliminary findings for a general and non-academic audience. Publication of the blog led to several unsolicited expressions of interest in the research and request for the PI's participation in other events. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://cdp.leeds.ac.uk/2022/06/14/against-good-citizenship/ |
| Description | Book talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Writer Yasmin El Rifae joined Alba Griffin, Masa Mrovjle and Sahla Aroussi from University of Leeds to present her book 'Radius: A story of feminist revolution' and discuss the relationship between gender, violence and citizenship. The talk was attended by 30 people, sparking discussion afterwards. The event will lead to a blog post and a video of the talk will be posted online. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | http://www.essl.leeds.ac.uk/politics/events/event/1328/when-ordinary-citizens-become-activists-femin... |
| Description | Hackathon with Hive Learning |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The event, co-organised with project partner Hive Learning, brought together a team of software engineers and data scientists to explore practical ways of using technology to promote trust in everyday living. Together we formulated a set of five design principles for civic technology. The event provoked questions and discussion afterwards, and led to the collaborative preparation of a blog post (forthcoming) detailing our findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Insecure Podcast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Interviewed by Insecurity: A Security Podcast (200+ followers), funded by the Leeds Centre for Global Security Studies. Interview was about my research, presented at the conference: Security in Times of Polycrisis. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | http://shows.acast.com/6475133dd6f8390011ccf9fc/episodes/episode-2-the-future-of-security-studies |
| Description | Interview for the New Books Network podcast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Alba Griffin was interviewed on the podcast about the release of her book Reading the Walls in Bogotá, leading to increased exposure of her work and engagement with a wider international audience, including invitation to join an international network of graffiti and street art academics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://newbooksnetwork.com/reading-the-walls-of-bogota |
| Description | Notwestminster workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | PI and PDRA led a workshop on the topic of 'Building Trust from Street Level'. The workshop was part of the Notwestminster annual meeting which attracted a diverse audience of more than 100 participants. The workshop itself was attended by 25 participants and stimulated questions and discussion leading to some audience members reporting changes in views, increased interest in the research, and expression of interest in future activities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://notinwestminster.wordpress.com/notwestminster-2023/building-trust-from-street-level/ |
| Description | Podcast for the Croatian Political Science Podcast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Podcast - 'The Politics of Politeness' - presenting project findings recorded and published as part of the Political Science Podcast series produced by the Croatian Political Science Association. Helped to raise international profile of the project and researcher, and served to publicise forthcoming monograph. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://analihpd.hr/en/epizoda-8-politika-pristojnosti/ |
| Description | Project Web Page |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A project web page was created to provide an accessible summary of the project for general audiences and to publicise outcomes as they were achieved. This has led to a request from an external company for involvement in developing a product based on project outcomes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| URL | https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/politics-research-expertise/dir-record/research-projects/1228/ordinary-citi... |
| Description | Public lecture in Canterbury |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A mixed audience of 30 including members of the general public, undergraduate and postgraduate students attended a talk delivered by the project team on the theme of 'Doing Justice to Ugly Graffiti', as part of the Making Politics Matter public lecture series organised by Canterbury Christ Church University. The talk, which provoked considerable discussion, created space for attendees to reflect on their judgements about the nature, significance and ethics of vandalism in society. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |