Especially in Developing World, people more and more see themselves as global citizens
(June 21st, 2016) A BBC World Service poll funds that people in general are increasingly identifying themselves as global rather than just national citizens. (The Boston Global Forum has been heavily involved in global citizenship education programs.)
The news service says that that the trend “is particularly marked in emerging economies, where people see themselves as outward looking and internationally minded.”
However, in some advanced industrialized nations, perhaps most notably Germany, “fewer people say they feel like global citizens now, compared with 2001,” in what points to the effects of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to open borders to a flood of migrants from the Mideast. That decision has spawned much anxiety in Europe.
The poll founds that “more than half of those asked (56 percent) in emerging economies saw themselves first and foremost as global citizens rather than national citizens.
In Nigeria (73 percent), China (71 percent), Peru (70 percent) and India (67 percent) the data were particularly marked.
“By contrast, the trend in the industrialised nations seems to be heading in the opposite direction.
“In these richer nations, the concept of global citizenship appears to have taken a serious hit after the financial crash of 2008 {and with the start of the refugee crisis}. In Germany, for example, only 30 percent of respondents see themselves as global citizens.”
For the entire BBC story, please hit this link.