Rethinking ‘Citizenship’ in the Postcolony

Engaged Excellence or Excellent Engagement? Collaborating Critically to Amplify the Voices of Male Survivors of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

“…The extent to which engagement either expands how we see the world or reinforces unquestioned prior positions is an important indicator of whether or not meaningful co-construction of knowledge in research and learning approaches has been achieved. Robins, Cornwall andvon Lieres (2008: 1085) argue that rather than 'importing normative notions with their own culturally located histories and reading people's identifications and actions through them, there is a need for more grounded forms of inquiry' that investigate how different political and historical contexts shape people's realities. Feminist and participative approaches within critical social research aim to deconstruct the given, or the 'norm', and recognise the multiplicity of 'truths' inherent in social relations.…”

Cross-border transitions: navigating conflict and political change through community education practices in Myanmar and the Thai border

“…Notions of citizenship formation are central to community education practices as choices are made (both intentionally and not) over the forms of citizenship that want to be represented. This alternative construction results simultaneously in 'the unsettling of the old ground and its markers, and the attempt to introduce a range of political practices (democratic and non-democratic) that shape the identity of new polities in the context of its contestation by emerging groups and identities' (Robins, Cornwall & von Lieres 2008, 1073, resulting in the breaking down and reforming of power relations. The implications of these interactions are likely to become increasingly relevant, contingent on the outcomes of the forthcoming elections.…”

Urban Livelihoods, Institutions and Inclusive Governance in Nairobi : 'Spaces' and their Impacts on Quality of Life, Influence and Political Rights

“…Both the literature on 'capacity building to respond and demand' in this period were characterised by an almost exclusive focus on governance process components of amongst others transparency, inclusion/exclusion, representation and accountability. In addition they showed an in retrospect somewhat naive belief that process improvements would almost automatically lead to improved results, which was Chapter 2 26 later by the citizenship literature itself described as ideological (Robins, Cornwall & Von Lieres 2008). Literature on 'capacity building to respond' focused on responsive and efficient service delivery programmes.…”

“…The key challenge regarding issue-defined territories is to avoid conceiving the relation between governance networks and a territorially defined citizenry in terms of a relation of representation (Fotel, Sorensen, & Torfing 2008). Recent citizenship literature increasingly emphasizes the possibility for the poor to opt out of participatory governance and try alternative, non-state related channels (Robins, Cornwall, & Lieres von 2008;Thompson 2007). The literature has well indicated the importance of asking the additional question of representation or participation 'in whose name' (Lavalle, Acharya, & Houtzager 2005).…”