World citizen In general, a world citizen is a person who places global citizenship above any nationalistic or local identities and relationships. An early expression of this value is found in
Diogenes of Sinope (; mentioned above), a
Cynic philosopher in Ancient Greece. Of Diogenes it is said: "Asked where he came from, he answered: 'I am a citizen of the world (kosmopolitês). This was a ground-breaking concept because the broadest basis of social identity in Greece at that time was either the individual city-state or the Greeks (Hellenes) as a group. The
Tamil poet Kaniyan Poongundran wrote in
Purananuru, "To us all towns are one, all men our kin." In later years, political philosopher
Thomas Paine would declare, "my country is the world, and my religion is to do good." Today, the increase in worldwide globalization has led to the formation of a "world citizen"
social movement under a proposed
world government. In a non-political definition, it has been suggested that a world citizen may provide value to society by using knowledge acquired across cultural contexts. Many people also consider themselves world citizens, as they feel at home wherever they may go.
Albert Einstein described himself as a world citizen and supported the idea throughout his life, famously saying "Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind." World citizenship has been promoted by distinguished people including
Garry Davis, who lived for 60 years as a citizen of no nation, only the world. In 1953 Davis founded the
World Service Authority in Washington, DC, which sells
World Passports, a
fantasy passport to world citizens. In 1956
Hugh J. Schonfield founded the
Commonwealth of World Citizens, later known by its
Esperanto name "Mondcivitana Respubliko", which also issued a world passport; it declined after the 1980s. The
Baháʼí Faith promotes the concept through its founder's proclamation (in the late 19th century) that "The Earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens." As a term defined by the
Baháʼí International Community in a concept paper shared at the 1st session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, New York, U.S.A. on 14–25 June 1993. "World citizenship begins with an acceptance of the oneness of the human family and the interconnectedness of the nations of 'the earth, our home.' While it encourages a sane and legitimate patriotism, it also insists upon a wider loyalty, a love of humanity as a whole. It does not, however, imply abandonment of legitimate loyalties, the suppression of cultural diversity, the abolition of national autonomy, nor the imposition of uniformity. Its hallmark is '
unity in diversity.' World citizenship encompasses the principles of social and economic justice, both within and between nations; non-adversarial decision making at all levels of society; equality of the sexes; racial, ethnic, national and religious harmony; and the willingness to sacrifice for the common good. Other facets of world citizenship—including the promotion of human honour and dignity, understanding, amity, co-operation, trustworthiness, compassion and the desire to serve—can be deduced from those already mentioned." An early use of
mondialisation was to refer to the act of a city or a local authority declaring itself a "world citizen" city, by voting a charter stating its awareness of global problems and its sense of shared responsibility. The concept was promoted by the self-declared World Citizen
Garry Davis in 1949, as a logical extension of the idea of individuals declaring themselves world citizens, and promoted by Robert Sarrazac, a former leader of the
French Resistance who created the Human Front of World Citizens in 1945. The first city to be officially mundialised was the small French city of
Cahors (only 20,000 in 2006), the capital city of the Département of
Lot in central
France, on 20 July 1949. Hundreds of cities mundialised themselves over a few years, most of them in France, and then it spread internationally, including to many German cities and to
Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. In less than a year, ten General Councils (the elected councils of the French "Départements"), and hundreds of cities in France covering 3.4 million inhabitants voted mundialisation charters. One of the goals was to elect one delegate per million inhabitants to a People's World Constitutional Convention given the already then historical failure of the
United Nations in creating a global institution able to negotiate a final
world peace. More than 1,000 cities and towns have declared themselves
World cities, including
Beverly Hills,
Los Angeles,
Minneapolis,
St. Louis,
Philadelphia,
Toronto, Hiroshima,
Tokyo,
Nivelles, and
Königswinter. As a social movement, mundialization expresses the solidarity of populations of the globe and aims to establish institutions and
supranational laws of a
federative structure common to them, while respecting the diversity of cultures and peoples. The movement advocates for a new political organization governing
all humanity, involving the transfer of certain parts of national
sovereignty to a
Federal World Authority,
Federal World Government and
Federal World Court. Basing its authority on the will of the people, supporters hope it could develop new systems to draw on the highest and best wisdom of all humanity, and solve major planetary problems like
hunger, access to
water,
war,
peace-keeping,
pollution and energy. The mundialization movement includes the declaration of specified territory – a city, town, or state, for example – as world territory, with responsibilities and rights on a world scale. Currently, the nation-state system and the United Nations offer no way for the people of the world to vote for world officials or participate in governing our world. International
treaties or agreements, while binding at the international level, are not automatically enforceable under the laws of every state. Mundialization seeks to address this lack by presenting a way to build, one city at a time, such a system of true World Law based upon the sovereignty of the whole.
Earth Anthem Author-politician
Shashi Tharoor feels that an
Earth Anthem sung by people across the world can inspire
planetary consciousness and global citizenship among people. ==Criticisms==