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The Good Citizen: Global Historical Perspectives on Citizenship (1800 - 2000)
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 16:06:35
Abstract
Examining citizenship as a contested category, the course focuses on the technoscientific discourses and practices that have historically been adopted to define citizens. Students are introduced to critical literature in this area and explore in particular the relationship existing between citizenship, biopolitics and technology.
Objective
Students learn the history of citizenship from ca 1800 onwards through readings taken from the multidisciplinary scholarship on the topic with a focus on different cultural and political settings. Providing insights into the ever-shifting meaning of citizenship, the course explains this category in relation to scientific and technological changes.
Content
This seminar aims to explore the complex and often ambivalent effects that technoscientific discourses and practices and technologies of biopower have had on norms, practices and institutions of citizenship. It does so by considering, in particular, the impact that technoscientific developments have had in terms of inclusion/exclusion and emancipation/control of citizens. In particular, the role of biology, (colonial) biomedicine, data science, surveillance technologies and biometric identification techniques are objects of substantial reflection that promise to provide students from natural and technical sciences with new perspectives on their core subjects by raising ethical questions about the role and responsibility of these in relation to citizenship issues. The seminar is thematically structured, adopts a multidisciplinary perspective, and uses scholarly texts and concrete examples from different world-regions and periods to familiarise participants with the different dimensions of, and historical variations in, citizenship as well as with the major shifts in understanding this category. It considers topical issues like the implication of digital technologies on political participation, social inclusion, and state borders; the effects of Assisted Reproductive Technologies and genetic advancements on formal membership and immigration policy; the forms of resistance that such practices have spurred locally and globally. Critically engaging with these topics, students a) examine and reflect on the complex, problematic, and often contradictory relationship existing between citizenship, biopolitics and technology; b) relate what they have learnt to their core scientific subject or to contemporary debates while considering historical continuities and discontinuities; c) revisit and broaden their understanding of citizenship while learning to use it as an analytical lens to make sense of the globalised world.
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- DS
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Registration & Places
- Max Places
- 30
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| seminar | The Good Citizen: Global Historical Perspectives on Citizenship (1800 - 2000) |
|
14 h semesterly |
Offered In
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Science in Perspective (In “Science in Perspective”-courses students learn to reflect on ETH’s STEM subjects from the perspective of humanities, political and social sciences. Only the courses listed below will be recognized as "Science in Perspective" courses.)
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Type A: Enhancement of Reflection Competence (SiP courses are recommended for bachelor students after their first-year examination and for all master- or doctoral students. All SiP courses are listed in Type A. Courses listed under Type B are only recommendations for enrollment for specific departments.)
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