European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

282 EUROPEAN IDENTITY. INDIVIDUAL, GROUP AND SOCIETYcentury. It is therefore fundamental that educational programs be set inmotion to develop and disseminate this perception.As various fora have observed, and in the light of present changesand transformations (the multicultural issue being one of them),democratic societies need their citizens to reflect on the importantissues that affect them and be able to form their own opinions andactively participate when decisions that affect their societies are made.These citizens must be conscientious and active participants in ademocratic society. They must be aware of their individual rights andpolitical duties and thus should not relinquish the political administrationof the communities in which they live nor automatically delegate theresponsibility that this implies to the “experts”.This demand for the formation of responsible citizens has, and hashad since the establishment of Education for the masses in theWestern world, an important educational foundation. It is expectedthat through Primary and Secondary Education children should beprovided with intellectual formation in the areas of shared values andcritical and rational thought (which includes both the capacity toconvince others and be convinced during discussions, excludingtherefore the fanaticism of extreme principles).For this reason, even with the dissent and controversy with regardsto the effect of education on the formation of citizens, assuming thatin order to be a democratic citizen it is not enough to be simply born ina democratic environment, we recognise that strategies and supportfor the formation of young people that will guarantee the stability ofdemocracy are being generated.What concepts are being used in order to undertake this formation?What strategies are being devised? In the title, by way of precaution,we have made reference to the fact that citizenship is initiallyconstructed and then implied that this construction can be plural.What interest do these two affirmations hold?To propose and appeal in favour of the conviction that citizenship isconstructed is an attempt to banish, from the very start, an essentialist andunivocal vision in the understanding of what it is to be a citizen. Citizenship,just like personal or collective identities, is the result of miscellaneous andcomplex rights and duties that need to be defended by those to whom theycorrespond and the authorities and institutions in place.The flipside of this discourse is their infringement, their insufficientdevelopment and discriminatory application and recognition. To affirmthat citizenship is constructed implies a demand for lawful developmentof such citizenship and the avoidance of rigid conceptualization broughtabout certain types of definitions such as “Citizenship is…”.