Abstract

Citizenship education of children and young people presents challenges for both educational and political systems globally. The current political and social crisis has led the discussion on citizenship as situated in cultural and historic contexts. Therefore, citizenship can be defined in different ways. Furthermore, citizenship can be developed in different spaces, and studied from the standpoint of its role and the topics it encompasses. This article aims at reflecting on the field of citizenship and education using a wide perspective. For this reason, it advances on a multidimensional map on the traits related to citizenship and the challenges that citizens face on the 21st century. Starting from the notions of Nation-State, of political systems (even those different from Western democracies), and the concept citizenship in a global context we explore different spaces for citizenship socialization (families, schools, local communities, peers, among others. We also consider the normative, attitudinal, and active roles that mark both citizenship and citizenship education, as well as a sample of the myriad of topics that fit within the study of citizenship education currently in the world. Through this mapping of dimensions, roles and topics we propose some challenges for this research field, and we delve into the specific contribution of each one of the seven articles included in this special issue. Finally, and as a conclusion, we delineate some of the research challenges for the future agenda to expand the studies of citizenship beyond the liberal democracy conceptions, allowing to study other forms of political organization, understanding their historical and cultural roots, and the way in which citizenship is built from childhood onwards.