20 September 2002
In a manner more akin to the philosophy of the classical stoics than to the words of the arguably sociopathic "Socrates gone mad" (Nussbaum 56), Diogenes the Cynic, Martha Nussbaum argues that the properly liberally educated individual should be a "Citizen of the world," meaning that the individual's primary loyalty is to humanity, with all sectarian and local allegiances being secondary (9). To be a world citizen, the individual must embrace the idea that justice, fundamental human dignity, and the defense thereof, must supersede in importance any form of group identity, be it based on politics, ethnicity, gender, race, nationality, or social class.
To foster in an individual this sense of universal respect for humanity, and to cultivate an individual's ability to participate in a dialogue with individuals from diverse backgrounds, Nussbaum argues that liberal education must be multicultural in nature, meaning that students learn about the history and culture of many different groups, as "awareness of cultural difference is essential in order to promote the respect for another that is the essential underpinning for dialogue" (68). Therefore, in cultivating world citizens, the role of the schools is of paramount importance. This can best be fostered in a curriculum that introduces to students the wide variety of cultures throughout the globe, perhaps most easily accessible to students in the fields of the Humanities; educates students about a particular culture in depth, a task for which foreign language education is particularly well suited; and encourages the student to embrace the concept of universal human dignity, an idea for which Philosophy is ideally suited, but which could be incorporated into nearly any field of study.
Although Nussbaum specifically refers to liberal education at the university level, the introduction of intercultural studies could easily be cultivated at the primary and secondary levels of education. Given that the nature of a democratic republic requires, in order to function, requires the participation of an informed, critically thinking electorate, and given that the public education system in the United States is designed to meet this requirement, an implementation of a curriculum that seeks to build world citizens into the public school system would yield students better equipped to participate in a dialogue, thus yielding individuals better suited to fulfill their responsibilities as citizens.
Benjamin R. Barber, speaking in 2002, agrees with this assessment of the relationship between intercultural education and the cultivation of world citizens (27-28). However, Barber frames his agreement with this point inside the context of the immediacy for the need for international dialogue in the wake of 11 September 2001. In the period of time between the rise of big corporations in the late 19th Century and September 2001, the degree to which the economic interests of corporations have seeped into the American public discourse had reached truly disturbing proportions. Barber cites the extreme example of Channel One, a medium for youth oriented product positioning, masquerading as an educational technology exchange, which, were the information presented political rather than corporate in nature, would have the population decrying the practice as totalitarianism (25). Given the self-absorbed nature, isolationism, and consumerism that has grown to characterize American popular culture over the past century, Barber stresses that the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 represent a clarion reveille to educators, attesting to the need to produce citizens, prepared to participate on the increasingly diverse world stage (26-27).
The realities of the modern world dictate that Americans need be aware that actions taken by one government, one corporation, or one individual can affect the lives of individuals on the other side of the globe. The very nature of the international and intercultural dialogue requires the participation of world citizens, along the Nussbaum model. For Barber, the notion of a global citizen translates into a necessity to fulfill American citizenship, as well (27). The responsibility of citizenship in a democratic republic is to participate in the public discourse, bringing to the table a requisite level of knowledge and critical thinking ability. Given the international nature of the modern world, a citizen would need to possess a high level of intercultural understanding in order to meaningfully participate. In other words, the responsibility of contemporary citizenship necessitates that the citizen be a world citizen. Failure to meet this requirement would yield a citizenship unsuitable to participate in the public discourse in the modern world, resulting in a failure of democracy.
Barber, Benjamin R. "The Educated Student: Global Citizen or Global COnsumer?" Liberal Education. Spring 2002: 22-28.
Nussbaum, Martha C. Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform in Liberal Education. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1997.
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