Civil society, or citizen's groups, have taken centre stage in international policy debates and global problem solving. They hold out the promise of a global community and global governance. This volume, by leading scholars and participants, shows how to understand the changes that are occurring, particularly in relation to the international institutions involved. It includes case studies from all the major social movements of the 1990s.

Civil society, or citizen's groups, have taken centre stage in international policy debates and global problem solving. They hold out the promise of a global community and global governance. This volume, by leading scholars and participants, shows how to understand the changes that are occurring, particularly in relation to the international institutions involved. It includes case studies from all the major social movements of the 1990s.

Less than ten years before this book was written, there was little talk of civil society in the corridors of power. But now, the walls reverberate to the sound of global citizen action--and difficult questions about the phenomenon abound. This book presents the cutting edge of contemporary thinking about nonstate participation in the international system. Against the background of the changing global context, the authors present case studies of the most significant social movements and NGO networks influencing the course of world politics today. Their timely analysis encompasses the differing and conflicting interests and agendas associated with "civil society," shedding needed light on the forces that will determine the future of global governance.

Our children have the energy, capacity, and passion to create and nurture a global culture in which inclusion, acceptance, respect, and participation are the core values that underpin a human being's every interaction. As parents and carers, our job is to help our children take their first steps along that path. Raising truly globally minded, and socially conscious children happens at home and in the community. Children can be inspired, equipped, and mobilized to make a difference in the world. By encouraging values such as responsible and kind use of social media, respect, open mindedness, empathy, a sense of community, parents can help to shape a new generation of emotionally intelligent, outward-looking, politically ethical world citizens. Relevant to parents of children of all ages - from toddlers to teens - the book gives practical advice on how to talk to your children, the vocabulary to use, and activities and projects you can undertake with your children, from planting a tree to keeping a gratitude diary to cooking themed cuisines. And you'll find out how to model global citizenship through your own day-to-day actions.

From “an exceptional storyteller,” Somewhere in the Unknown World is a collection of powerful stories of refugees who have found new lives in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, told by the award-winning author of The Latehomecomer and The Song Poet. All over this country, there are refugees. But beyond the headlines, few know who they are, how they live, or what they have lost. Although Minnesota is not known for its diversity, the state has welcomed more refugees per capita than any other, from Syria to Bosnia, Thailand to Liberia. Now, with nativism on the rise, Kao Kalia Yang—herself a Hmong refugee—has gathered stories of the stateless who today call the Twin Cities home. Here are people who found the strength and courage to rebuild after leaving all they hold dear. Awo and her mother, who escaped from Somalia, reunite with her father on the phone every Saturday, across the span of continents and decades. Tommy, born in Minneapolis to refugees from Cambodia, cannot escape the war that his parents carry inside. As Afghani flees the reach of the Taliban, he seeks at every stop what he calls a certificate of his humanity. Mr. Truong brings pho from Vietnam to Frogtown in St. Paul, reviving a crumbling block as well as his own family. In Yang’s exquisite, necessary telling, these fourteen stories for refugee journeys restore history and humanity to America's strangers and redeem its long tradition of welcome.

How does citizen activism win changes in national policy? Which factors help to make myriad efforts by diverse actors add up to reform? What is needed to overcome setbacks, and to consolidate the smaller victories? These questions need answers. Aid agencies have invested heavily in supporting civil society organizations as change agents in fledgling and established democracies alike. Evidence gathered by donors, NGOs and academics demonstrates how advocacy and campaigning can reconfigure power relations and transform governance structures at the local and global levels. In the rush to go global or stay local, however, the national policy sphere was recently neglected. Today, there is growing recognition of the key role of champions of change inside national governments, and the potential of their engagement with citizen activists outside. These advances demand a better understanding of how national and local actors can combine approaches to simultaneously work the levers of change, and how their successes relate to actors and institutions at the international level. This book brings together eight studies of successful cases of citizen activism for national policy changes in South Africa, Morocco, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Turkey, India and the Philippines. They detail the dynamics and strategies that have led to the introduction, change or effective implementation of policies responding to a range of rights deficits. Drawing on influential social science theory about how political and social change occurs, the book brings new empirical insights to bear on it, both challenging and enriching current understandings.

A cheerful, optimistic handbook for parents and carers shaping the next generation of responsible global citizens – ready to change the world for the better! Our children have the energy, capacity, and passion to create and nurture a global culture in which inclusion, acceptance, respect, and participation are the core values that underpin a human being's every interaction. As parents and caregivers, our job is to help our children take their first steps along that path. Raising truly globally minded, and socially conscious children happens at home and in the community. Children can be inspired, equipped, and mobilized to make a difference in the world. By encouraging values such as responsible and kind use of social media, respect, open mindedness, empathy, a sense of community, parents can help to shape a new generation of emotionally intelligent, outward-looking, politically ethical world citizens. Relevant to parents of children of all ages—from toddlers to teens—the book gives practical advice on how to talk to your children, the vocabulary to use, and activities and projects you can undertake with your children, from planting a tree to keeping a gratitude diary to cooking themed cuisines. And you'll find out how to model global citizenship through your own day-to-day actions.