Community Member or Citizen?
Posted by Sara Moore
Community Member or Citizen? [PDF]
Increasingly the world of environmentalists is merging with the world of human rights activists, particularly as global climate change begins to threaten entire cultures and ethnic groups. Community organizers of both kinds need to learn the best ways to speak and write inclusively. While the word citizen can feel empowering to the writer or speaker habituated to its use as term meaning “concerned or impacted community member,” the word’s meaning in a human rights context (a very limited meaning) can result in unintended instances of elitism. This short essay by Sara Moore, Pacific Environment’s Russia/Policy Program Associate, presents some instances where citizen can be inaccurate (and damaging), and also some suggestions for alternative terms.
Tags: activism, human rights
