A Buddhist-Humanist exploration of global citizenship within various spaces and places

Abstract

In this autoethnographic study, I negotiate my identity as a mixed-caste South Asian woman, drawing on a Buddhist-humanist spiritual approach to examine the development of global citizen identity. The non-Western perspective of global citizenship discussed in the paper, challenges the mono-epistemological version of research produced in the English-speaking world. I discuss three experiences in my life that correspond to the cultivation of the tenets of global citizenship namely wisdom, courage, compassion as articulated by Ikeda. This paper offers a practical and experiential example of applying a non-dominant global citizenship approach and seeks to institutionalize the field as a discourse in the pursuit of global peace, social justice, and universal human rights.

Keywords:

• Global citizenship
• autoethnography
• Buddhist-humanism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alankrita Chhikara

Alankrita Chhikara is a PhD Candidate in Curriculum Studies in the Department ofCurriculum and Instruction at Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA. Chhikara is a Holmes scholar and currently teaches undergraduate courses focused on social-justice and multiculturalism in the College of Education. Her research focuses on Soka/Ikeda studies in education and the experiences and role of youth in advancing and promoting critical global citizenship and global citizenship civic engagement to address global problems, identitybased violence, and discrimination.