In this and the next episode of Ratio Talks, Simon Duffy talks about the foundational concept of citizen -not in the sense of citizen of a nation, but in terms of the rights and responsibilities of every person who lives in a country, regardless of their nationality.

In the podcast, Simon refers to the work of philosophers Hannah Arendt, particularly her 1951 book The Origins of Totalitarianism, and Simone Weil. Simon also draws on Guy Standing’s 2014 book The Precariat.

I asked Simon about three books: Bernhard Schlink’s novel The Granddaughter about the rise of the right in Germany. (I will review Schlink’s novel in the coming weeks); Claudia Rankin’s extraordinary book length poem Citizen: An American Lyric; and Dieter Helm’s Legacy: How to Build the Sustainable Economy.

In the second episode, Simon refers to several networks developing power shifting practices that build on his work on citizenship. The European Municipalist Network maps and connects initiatives in this area, including Barcelona en comú mentioned by Simon in the podcast. The Fearless Cities is a similar network. Simon is heavily involved in Fearless Cities South Yorkshire.

If you find these episodes interesting, you may want to listen to Simon’s previous contribution describing his role in the fight to de-institutionalise people with intellectual disabilities.

There are multiple additional sources and resources at Citizen Network.

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