The Centre was established in 1994 as a response to the need for research, critical analysis and practical interventions into the theory and practice of citizenship and human rights.
Since 1994 the need to respond to citizenship and human rights issues has become more urgent, as new pressures, risks and conflicts associated with processes of globalisation, localism and social diversification become apparent.
Members of the Centre have worked with other researchers, community groups and governments, both in Australia and internationally, to explore the role of citizenship and human rights in reinvigorating civil society, responding to oppression and inequality and strengthening democracy.
We live in a time of paradox and challenge. For example, the processes of globalisation and localism have taken a number of paths. Globalisation has meant the ascendancy of the fiscal and political power of global capital, through transnational corporations and other international organisations. International networks have also supported subaltern organisations constructed around both universal human rights and fundamentalist agendas. But globalisation has also ushered in cosmopolitan citizenship, a respect for difference and openness to the voices of others.
