Good International Citizenship

Good International Citizenship PDF Author: Gareth Evans
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780369383730
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 124

Get Book Here

Book Description
Why should we in Australia, or any country, care about poverty, human rights atrocities, health epidemics, environmental catastrophes, weapons proliferation or any other problems afflicting faraway countries, when they don't, as is often the case, have any direct or immediate impact on our own safety or prosperity? Gareth Evans' answer is the approach he adopted when Australia's foreign minister. He argues that to be, and be seen to be, a good international citizen - a state that cares about other people's suffering, and does everything reasonably possible to alleviate it - is both a moral imperative and a matter of hard-headed national interest. The case for decency in conducting our international relations is based both on the reality of our common humanity, and a national interest just as compelling as the traditional duo of security and prosperity. Four key benchmarks matter most in assessing any country's record as a good international citizen: its foreign aid generosity; its response to human rights violations; its reaction to conflict, mass atrocities, and the refugee flows that are so often their aftermath; and its contribution to addressing the global existential threats posed by climate change, pandemics and nuclear war. Measured against them, Australia's overall record has been patchy at best, lamentable at worst, and is presently embarrassingly poor. The better news is that, on all available evidence, the problem lies not with the negative attitudes of our people, but our governments. Those in office might prefer Berthold Brecht's solution: 'dissolve the people and elect another.' But the right course for the rest of us is to persuade our political leaders, on both moral and national interest grounds, to change their ways, and to vote them out if they don't.

Good International Citizenship

Good International Citizenship PDF Author: Gareth Evans
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780369383730
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 124

Get Book Here

Book Description
Why should we in Australia, or any country, care about poverty, human rights atrocities, health epidemics, environmental catastrophes, weapons proliferation or any other problems afflicting faraway countries, when they don't, as is often the case, have any direct or immediate impact on our own safety or prosperity? Gareth Evans' answer is the approach he adopted when Australia's foreign minister. He argues that to be, and be seen to be, a good international citizen - a state that cares about other people's suffering, and does everything reasonably possible to alleviate it - is both a moral imperative and a matter of hard-headed national interest. The case for decency in conducting our international relations is based both on the reality of our common humanity, and a national interest just as compelling as the traditional duo of security and prosperity. Four key benchmarks matter most in assessing any country's record as a good international citizen: its foreign aid generosity; its response to human rights violations; its reaction to conflict, mass atrocities, and the refugee flows that are so often their aftermath; and its contribution to addressing the global existential threats posed by climate change, pandemics and nuclear war. Measured against them, Australia's overall record has been patchy at best, lamentable at worst, and is presently embarrassingly poor. The better news is that, on all available evidence, the problem lies not with the negative attitudes of our people, but our governments. Those in office might prefer Berthold Brecht's solution: 'dissolve the people and elect another.' But the right course for the rest of us is to persuade our political leaders, on both moral and national interest grounds, to change their ways, and to vote them out if they don't.

Australia as a Good International Citizen

Australia as a Good International Citizen PDF Author: Alison Pert
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781862879874
Category : Australia
Languages : en
Pages : 268

Get Book Here

Book Description
From time to time, politicians describe Australia as a "good international citizen". But what does this mean, exactly? What constitutes good international citizenship? And does Australia really qualify as a good international citizen? This book attempts to answer these questions.Very little has been written about good international citizenship. Most of the limited literature is by international relations scholars and practitioners and therefore naturally tends to focus on Australian foreign policy. Nobody has ventured a definition of the term, or even a list of qualities that a good international citizen should possess. This book therefore begins by proposing such a list, and identifies two particularly important elements: compliance with international law, and support for multilateralism.Using these elements as a yardstick, Dr Pert then seeks to measure Australia''s good international citizenship throughout its post-Federation history. Account is given of the shenanigans of Billy Hughes at the 1919 peace conference in Versailles (not a great example of good international citizenship); the forgotten contribution to international economic and social cooperation of Stanley Bruce in the late 1930s; "Doc" Evatt''s astonishing performance at San Francisco in 1945, where the United Nations Charter was negotiated, and his personal influence on the form the new world organisation was to take; the almost dormant Menzies years; the Whitlam revolution and re-engagement with the world; and the Fraser reaction. The analysis continues with the Hawke/Keating, Howard, and Rudd/Gillard governments.One of the main conclusions the book draws from this analysis is that states - whether Australia or others such as the archetypically "good" Scandinavian states - can be paragons of good international citizenship in one area (say, overseas aid) but the opposite in another (such as repulsion of asylum-seekers, or arms exports). Thus, it argues, "good international citizenship" is not a blanket term that can be applied to a state. Instead, a state can be a good international citizen in some areas, and quite the opposite in others. A full account of how Australia rates from this perspective is given from Federation to the demise of the second Rudd government in 2013.___________________________________________________________________Good International Citizenship: Values and Interests in Foreign PolicymakingAddress by Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AC QC FASSA FAIIA to Sydney University Law School, 27 August 2015"[T]hat is about as far as I have taken the concept of good international citizenship in my own speeches and writings over the last three decades. But I am delighted to acknowledge, in her presence here this evening, that we now have a scholar, Sydney University''s Dr Alison Pert, who has taken the idea a good deal further in her book Australia as a Good International Citizen, published last year.Alison has done not only scholars but policymakers a great service in this book. For a start, she focuses far more concentrated attention than I ever did on defining the core idea of good international citizenship, and teasing out all its possible dimensions: not just support for multilateralism, and willingness to "pitch in" to international tasks, and doing "international good deeds", on which I have tended to focus, but also compliance with international law, and leadership in improving or raising international standards.Overall, the practical relevance of Alison Pert''s very scholarly work is that she gives our foreign policy makers, and those elsewhere, in effect a whole new set of talking points to use in persuading possibly reluctant domestic audiences that pursuing "purposes beyond ourselves" is not a fringe activity best left to missionaries and the naïve, but something that every state worth the name should be doing, by which it will be judged by the rest of the world, and by which its citizens will directly benefit if it gets it right." Read the full Speech...In the media...Australians at their best, Governor-General''s Boyer Lectures, ABC RN, Nov 2013 Read transcript or Listen to audio...

Good International Citizenship

Good International Citizenship PDF Author: Gareth Evans
Publisher: In the National Interest
ISBN: 9781922464972
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 96

Get Book Here

Book Description
Why should we in Australia, or any country, care about poverty, human rights atrocities, health epidemics, environmental catastrophes, weapons proliferation or any other problems afflicting faraway countries, when they don't, as is often the case, have any direct or immediate impact on our own safety or prosperity? Gareth Evans' answer is the approach he adopted when Australia's foreign minister. He argues that to be, and be seen to be, a good international citizen -- a state that cares about other people's suffering, and does everything reasonably possible to alleviate it -- is both a moral imperative and a matter of hard-headed national interest. The case for decency in conducting our international relations is based both on the reality of our common humanity, and a national interest just as compelling as the traditional duo of security and prosperity. Four key benchmarks matter most in assessing any country's record as a good international citizen: its foreign aid generosity; its response to human rights violations; its reaction to conflict, mass atrocities, and the refugee flows that are so often their aftermath; and its contribution to addressing the global existential threats posed by climate change, pandemics and nuclear war. Measured against them, Australia's overall record has been patchy at best, lamentable at worst, and is presently embarrassingly poor. The better news is that, on all available evidence, the problem lies not with the negative attitudes of our people, but our governments. Those in office might prefer Berthold Brecht's solution: 'dissolve the people and elect another.' But the right course for the rest of us is to persuade our political leaders, on both moral and national interest grounds, to change their ways, and to vote them out if they don't.

"Being and Being Seen to Be"

Author: David Goldsworthy
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Australia
Languages : en
Pages : 12

Get Book Here

Book Description


The Good International Citizenship of the Rudd Government

The Good International Citizenship of the Rudd Government PDF Author: Alison Pert
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
'Good international citizenship' is a phrase that has been in and out of vogue in Australia over the past two decades. Yet despite its sporadic popularity, there is no agreement on what good international citizenship actually means: the (surprisingly limited) literature tends to focus instead on the foreign policy Australia has followed or ought to adopt as a good international citizen, without analyzing the meaning of the term. Understandably, the concept has featured most prominently in the discourse of international relations scholars and foreign policy practitioners. It is suggested, however, that good international citizenship is of equal interest and relevance to the international lawyer, and while we might all recognize good international citizenship when we see it, an international lawyer's understanding of the concept might be quite different from that of an international relations practitioner. This article therefore briefly explores what good international citizenship might mean to an international lawyer, and the role that international law, and international institutions, might play in determining good international citizenship, and focuses on two core criteria. The first is engagement with international law - treaty participation, compliance, and policy and practice in areas such as human rights, the environment, indigenous issues, mandatory sentencing, the treatment of asylum seekers, and anti-terrorism laws. The second is Australia's attitude to multilateralism, in fields such as climate change, the UN, overseas aid, peacekeeping and disarmament. Applying these criteria, this article then seeks to assess, from the perspective of an international lawyer, the good international citizenship of the Rudd government (December 2007-June 2010).

The Cosmopolites

The Cosmopolites PDF Author: Atossa Araxia Abrahamian
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780990976363
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 166

Get Book Here

Book Description
The cosmopolites are literally "citizens of the world," from the Greek word kosmos, meaning "world," and polites, or "citizen." Garry Davis, aka World Citizen No. 1, and creator of the World Passport, was a former Broadway actor and World War II bomber pilot who renounced his American citizenship in 1948 as a form of protest against nationalism, sovereign borders, and war. Today there are cosmopolites of all stripes, rich or poor, intentional or unwitting, from 1-percenters who own five passports thanks to tax-havens to theBidoon, the stateless people of countries like the United Arab Emirates. Journalist Atossa Abrahamian, herself a cosmopolite, travels around the globe to meet the people who have come to embody an increasingly fluid, borderless world. Along the way you are introduced to a colorful cast of characters, including passport-burning atheist hackers, the new Knights of Malta, California libertarian "seasteaders," who are residents of floating city-states,Bidoons, who have been forced to be citizens of the island nation Comoros, entrepreneurs in the business of buying and selling passports, cosmopolites who live on a luxury cruise ship calledThe World, and shady businessmen with ties to Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad.

Centering Global Citizenship Education in the Public Sphere

Centering Global Citizenship Education in the Public Sphere PDF Author: Susan Wiksten
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000407055
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 230

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book brings together key perspectives from scholars in the Global South and Global North to illustrate diverse ways in which the UN’s Global Citizenship Education (GCED) agenda can promote social justice and be used as a vehicle for negotiating and learning about diverse and shared objectives in education and the global public sphere. Recognizing the historical function of education as a prominent public sphere site, this book addresses questions around how forms of global education can serve as public sphere sites in various contexts today and in the future. Specifically, it questions established notions of education and proposes new interpretations of the relationship between practices of education and the public sphere to meet the needs of our contemporary turbulent era and a post-2020 world. By offering conceptual analyses, examples of policy and educational practices which promote global learning, democratic citizenship, common good, and perspective-taking, the text offers new critical understandings of how GCED can contribute to the public responsibilities and roles of education. Chapters consider examples such as non-formal adult education at the Mexico–US border, teachers’ responsibilities in Japan and Finland, developments in education policy and practices in Brazil, civic religious teachings in Canada, online learning in the United States and China, and support to the participation of women in higher education in Pakistan. Given its unique approach, and the range of case studies it brings together, this book is a timely addition to the literature on education in the global public sphere. It will prove to be an invaluable resource for scholars working at the intersections of global education and transnational education policies, and for teachers involved in global education.

The Practices of Global Citizenship

The Practices of Global Citizenship PDF Author: Hans Schattle
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742538993
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book Here

Book Description
What is global citizenship, exactly? Are we all global citizens? In The Practices of Global Citizenship, Hans Schattle provides a striking account of how global citizenship is taking on much greater significance in everyday life. This lively book includes many fascinating conversations with global citizens all around the world. Their personal stories and reflections illustrate how global citizenship relates to important concepts such as awareness, responsibility, participation, cross-cultural empathy, international mobility, and achievement. Now more than ever, global citizenship is being put into practice by schools, universities, corporations, community organizations, and government institutions. This book is a must-read for everyone who participates in global events--all of us.

Educating “Good” Citizens in a Globalising World for the Twenty-First Century

Educating “Good” Citizens in a Globalising World for the Twenty-First Century PDF Author: MURRAY PRINT
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9463003460
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 202

Get Book Here

Book Description
"What is needed to be a “good” citizen for the twenty-first century? And how can schools and curricula address this question? This book addresses these questions and what it means to be a “good citizen” in the twenty-first century by exploring this concept in two different, but linked, countries. China is a major international power whose citizens are in the midst of a major social and economic transformation. Australia is transforming itself into an Asian entity in multiple ways and is influenced by its major trading partner – China. Yet both rely on their education systems to facilitate and guide this transformation as both countries search for “good” citizens. The book explores the issue of what it means to be a “good citizen” for the 21st century at the intersection between citizenship education and moral education. The issue of what constitutes a “good citizen” is problematic in many countries and how both countries address this issue is vitally important to understanding how societies can function effectively in an increasingly interconnected world. The book contends that citizenship education and moral education in both countries overlap on the task of how to educate for a “good citizen”. Three key questions are the focus of this book: 1. What is a “good citizen” in a globalizing world? 2. How can “good citizenship” be nurtured in schools?3. What are the implications of the concept of “good citizen” in education, particularly the school curriculum? Murray Print (PhD) and Chuanbao Tan (PhD) are professors from the University of Sydney, Australia and Beijing Normal University, China respectively. Both are national leaders within their respective countries and they have brought together a group of leading Australian and Chinese citizenship educators to explore these key questions."

Good Sexual Citizenship

Good Sexual Citizenship PDF Author: Ellen Friedrichs
Publisher: Cleis Press
ISBN: 1627785019
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 346

Get Book Here

Book Description
Most of us want to be decent people in the world. Yet when it comes to sex, we so often stumble and contribute to sexual injustice. Think about it: are we really still blaming victims of sexual assaults? Can it truly be that there is a gender based orgasm gap? Are we actually labeling people based on the kind of sex they do or don’t have? Why do we insist on questioning if sex is consensual when someone’s passed out drunk? Our society is undergoing an evolution, and we should take this as a call to action to ensure that all people, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, age, ethnicity, race, religion, or social class, are treated as humans worthy of respect. Good Sexual Citizenship asks us all to break down sexual hostility and build up something better. To promote understanding and empathy, Friedrichs includes a factual and historical backdrop covering gender disparities, women’s rights, sexual violence, prevention, and sex education, and challenges readers to use this insight, along with guided exercises, to examine their own potential for “good sexual citizenship.” Covering topics like consent, sexual assault, pleasure, double standards, casual sex, hook-up culture, and teen sex, she provides us with tools to navigate societal messages, sexually hostile climates, stereotypes, and outdated mentalities.