In the age of open borders and supranational governance, citizenship is either a transactional status or a taboo subject. But who belongs where – and why – remains a live question.
In this Battle of Ideas satellite event, novelist and writer Dolan Cummings examines the meaning of citizenship: is it a legal label, a shared fate, or a political responsibility?
In a piece on his Substack 
L’esprit de l’escalier
 Dolan challenged contemporary ideas of citizenship:
‘Our citizenship is comprised of interweaving strands: common heritage, common rights and responsibilities and common beliefs. The weight given to each varies over time and between places. But if there is such a thing as universal humanity – and I think there is – it emerges not from biology or from abstract ideas, but from participation in civilised life, which means being a citizen of a particular polis.’Top of Form
At a time when self-declared British citizens make calls to make themselves heard in protests and flag waving while others gather in the streets to similarly celebrate their loyalty to distant lands, is our universal humanity under threat in the UK?
Speaker: Dolan Cummings
Dolan is an Associate of the Academy of Ideas, a novelist and writer. His latest novel is 
The Pictish Princess…and other stories from before there was a Scotland
.
Chair: Ruth Mieschbuehler
Ruth Mieschuehler is programme leader for Education Studies at the University of Derby. She is Swiss citizen and a new British subject. Ruth convenes the Derby AFAF Branch.
(Image: Ici on s'honore du titre de citoyen  (1799)   Manufacture Berthelot (publisher) in the public domain)
This East Midlands Salon discussion is a Battle of Ideas Satellite event. 
Information Source: East Midlands Salon | eventbrite

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