Cross-national Social Citizenship in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy. Kathleen Valtonen

Transcription

1 Cross-national Social Citizenship in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy Kathleen Valtonen Abstract Trinidad and Tobago plans to improve the quality of social citizenship and the social rights of citizens through considerable expansion of its social services and welfare system in the coming years. Robust social rights in the areas of health, education, and social services, are prerequisites to the well-being of citizens. Strong social rights are key to human and social development processes in the region. The latter, in turn, impact critically on economic development. As citizenship rights, and duties, become more clearly articulated and institutionalized, rules and regulations relating to eligibility also delimit more clearly the constituencies entitled to services and benefits. Social rights have traditionally been conceptualized as being tied to the individual's citizenship or status in the country of residence. Crossborder flows force states to redefine the boundaries of social citizenship and social rights. The proposed paper will address the question: How can we accommodate the free flow of citizens in the CARICOM Single Market area within the framework of States emerging social citizenship arrangements? The paper argues that the imperative would be to construct and operationalize a model of regional social citizenship in which individuals who reside and work in Caribbean countries other than their own, would be extended social rights on a par with the majority population. The paper will incorporate findings from data on how social services in Trinidad accommodate at present, their users who originate from other territories. 1

2 Introduction We understand the breadth of the concept of development when we recognize that the fundamental goal of economic development is not economic growth but improvement in human welfare what we often call human development, or social development (see Ministry of Social Development 1996). It is commonly held that human welfare or welfare in a society, can be increased by focusing on economic growth, and that as the economy prospers, improvements in education, health care, employment, and distribution of income will naturally follow. However, it has become more widely accepted that if the social and human dimensions of development are not addressed alongside economic concerns, economic growth might well occur without benefiting the wider society. Economic growth in itself does not automatically lead to greater satisfaction of human need in the population or to the promotion of social justice. Ultimately, underestimation of the importance of the social and human facets of development can undermine the economic development process itself (Berrios 2003). The concept of development spans material well-being and higher standards of living, improvements in education, health care, employment and distribution of income. However, its most critical features can be argued to be related to issues of equality, equity and access. Seers (1972) points out that, as well as growth and distribution, development involves changes in structures and institutions. Equality and citizenship While equity is concerned with distributional fairness or justice, equality is mainly a question of giving people the same opportunities and the same access to resources and services. On the other hand, in order to work toward equality of outcome, those who start from unequal positions in society, should be allocated different quantities of resources to enable them to participate in the all areas of society on a par with others. In the Caribbean region, we generally look toward market mechanisms and employment to generate human welfare across the society. Most people must depend on earned income, which does not necessarily make for an equitable system. It follows that mere membership of the society does not entitle all to enjoy the advantages from development processes and gains. To be outside of productive employment is to be largely excluded from the material benefits of development. Citizenship and citizenship rights have been a major instrument used by governments to address socioeconomic inequalities. From a rights based perspective, we recognize individual citizens (members of a nation) as bearers of rights, and we see governments as responsible or having the mandate to protect the well being of citizens by recognizing and honouring these rights. When this type of discourse is declared or formalized, the 2

3 honouring of rights become institutionalized. Citizenship is meant to shape the relations of the State to the citizen, with the state as guarantor of rights. Citizenship, according to T.H. Marshall s (1950) classic model, comprises political, civil and social dimensions. The model represents a thick version of citizenship, in which claims, duties and rights adhere to the status. Marshall (1950) sets out the civil element as composed of the rights necessary for individual freedom liberty of person, freedom of speech, thought and faith, the right to own property and to conclude valid contracts, and the right to justice. He states that the institutions most associated with the establishment of these rights are the civil and criminal court of justice. The political element refers to the right to participate in an exercise of political power, as a member of a body invested with political authority or as an elector of such a body. The corresponding institutions are Parliament and local elective bodies. The social element of citizenship, which is the main focus of this work, is framed on a comprehensive concept of welfare. It encompasses, in principle, a bundle of rights to ensure aspects of well-being which can be promoted through government instruments, ranging from the right to a very basic level of economic welfare and security, to the right to share to the full in the social heritage and to live the life of a civilized being according to the standards prevailing in the society (Marshall 1960). The institutions most closely connected with social rights are the educational system and the social services. Social rights are based on principles of distributive justice and implemented through the matrix of social insurance benefits, social services and direct income transfers. Social rights seek to protect citizens from risks such as sickness, disability, and old age, and at the same time to redress the inequalities in status and conditions, which follow in the wake of market mechanisms. Social rights, in their more comprehensive form, can include income transfer and incentive instruments to address even entrenched categories of inequality associated with, for example, unemployment. This aspect would be especially relevant in the Caribbean labour market arena, where the plight of underemployed has been studied but not resolved. Social rights which belong to the trilogy of rights set out by Marshall as part of the broader concept of citizenship, underpin state social welfare structures of services and benefits. In more complex welfare systems, social rights together with the principle of full employment are formally recognized pillars of social citizenship. State social welfare (the state institutions to promote human welfare) is held to be a prime instrument of inclusion. All citizens or members of the State are party to arrangements and provisions by the State for the welfare of the citizenry. The claims of citizens on the State are institutionalized as social rights, with the state as guarantor of rights. Human welfare institutions are an obvious embodiment or the materialization of these relations between State and citizen. A counter argument, parallel with that particular argument advocating social citizenship as an instrument for inclusion, points to the potential of citizenship rights to exclude groups. Such groups include those who are marginalized even though formally 3

4 belonging to the citizenry. Others might be living within a national territory but not having been naturalized, might be debarred from the rights and human welfare provisions available to those officially bearing the status of citizen (see Lister 1997; 1998). Studies show that highly organized systems for delivery of social rights and human welfare provision, often feature intricately structured eligibility mechanisms designed for the majority population at some point in time. If the terms of citizenship remain static, and unresponsive to intrinsic and extrinsic changes in social conditions, the potential for exclusion is high. Social citizenship structures have been found to be lagging behind changing needs across population groups, and to be slow to adapt to the challenges of increasing diversity in the citizenry, which is brought about by, for example, immigration and population movements (Valtonen 2001). While groups can become marginalized and might find themselves in peripheral areas of social citizenship, a potential power base for changing the system can be mobilized using the mechanism of rights. This can happen once social rights have been formally and explicitly articulated as part of the relationship between State and its citizens. In other words, oppressed groups can combat powerlessness by engaging in activity in the social rights arena i. Changes in the terms of citizenship can be negotiated utilizing the medium and discourse of rights. Rights are not cast in stone, and can be continuously reinterpreted, re-negotiated, defended and extended through political and social action ii. Social Citizenship in Trinidad and Tobago Since political independence in 1962, the public discourse has proceeded from themes of national unity and nation building into the development discourse. The public discourse focuses heavily on development, and is at the same time, regarded as the precursor to legislation, policy and policy implementation. The Government plans to improve the quality of social citizenship and the social rights of citizens through considerable expansion of its social services and welfare system in the coming years. This is an important part of the Government agenda entitled Vision 2020, which seeks to bring the country to developed nation status by the year While it is not possible to determine exactly what ideas fuel this initiative, a basic underlying principle is that improvements in human welfare are integral to the human and social development processes in the region. In turn, the social and human aspects of development impact critically on economic development, and render it sustainable. The current initiatives can be seen as action to implement social rights in the country. Yet the language of rights has not been used. To embark on a rights discourse and to articulate the State-citizen relationship in terms of rights, would lead to issues of direct accountability to the citizenry. However, the conceptualizing, planning and implementing of improvements in social services and provisions across the social sector, could benefit greatly from a social rights perspective and approach. 4

5 At this point, it is useful to scrutinize from a qualitative stance, the nature of citizenship, and its implications as a frame for organizing human welfare provisioning by the State. The difference between the status and practice of citizenship is generally recognized. For the Caribbean context, it would be useful to address in the first instance, the initial issue of disposition or prevailing attitude, to reflect the activity which must be undertaken to establish and gain acceptance of the concept of social rights at policy and decisionmaking levels as well as in the citizenry. Thus, for our purposes, we can conceptualize citizenship as a disposition, a status and a practice. Citizenship as a disposition refers to an attitude or consciousness in the population of loyalty, commitment, or co-responsibility iii towards the wider collectivity. A disposition toward thick citizenship is indicative of commitment, wider loyalties and would be a legitimizing basis for policymaking and stronger equality promoting provisions in human welfare institutions. Identity issues constitute an underlying force in citizenship as a disposition. Citizenship identity formerly has been exclusionary, denoting singular loyalty to a particular national collectivity. A common culture and evolutionary history was taken for granted as the foundation of national citizenship and identity. In contemporary societies with population diversity (due historical or modern migration flows),questions of culture, identity, difference and diversity, are central and contested in the theoreticization and politics of citizenship (Lister 1997). The Caribbean is a region of ethnic and cultural diversity. This has been acknowledged largely in cultural discourse. The dynamics of social, ethnic and gender stratification and ensuing issues of equality, can, however, be analyzed and addressed from a citizenship perspective. Citizenship as a status refers to the claims, duties and rights that are attached to membership in the nation/citizenry. In addition to the political, civil and social rights, (which are listed in the earlier part of the article), it is now commonly held that a hitherto unrecognized but important set of rights relate to rights to participate in government decision making in social, political, cultural and economic life. Citizenship as practice refers to the ability to exercise rights on a par with others, and to participate actively and productively in the society, i.e., in its social, cultural, economic and political spheres and institutions. The ideal would be that citizenship would engage all members of the society, as human actors and active political agents, in the development project. Should citizenship exist on the formal level, but not be implemented, or implementable on the ground, citizens are left with the impression that, in the end the government offers nothing more than a discourse unsupported by action (see Aleinikoff and Klusmeyer 2001). In this case, we refer to the lack of substantive citizenship. 5

6 Social Citizenship at National and Regional Level Parallel with the current efforts of states to develop institutions for strengthening and ensuring human welfare in the society, rules and regulations relating to eligibility will delimit more clearly and perhaps more rigidly, the constituencies entitled to services and benefits. This has often been a part of the process of articulating and institutionalizing citizenship rights. In countries with comprehensive and well-established human welfare arrangements, cross-border flows are gradually forcing states to redefine the boundaries of social citizenship and social rights. These rights have traditionally been conceptualized as being tied to the individual's citizenship or permanent status in the country of residence. How will we be able to accommodate the free flow of citizens in the CARICOM Single Market area within the framework of States (and Trinidad and Tobago in particular) emerging social citizenship arrangements? This paper has argued in favour of a social citizenship approach to address development issues, since such an approach would also capture important issues of equality, opportunities, and access. The argument can be extrapolated to take into account the same issues at a regional, inter-state level. Based on the tentative findings of a study in progress, non-nationals resident in Trinidad and Tobago, have access to many, if not most, social services on a par with citizens. The threshold to seeking assistance and services is often not higher for them than for other citizens, even though, as in the case of medical social work, the degree of provisioning might be more restricted. Since the level of provisioning is basic, the extension of services and benefits to non-nationals has not been seen as endangering the provisioning to the general population. In the event that social rights are implemented at higher levels, eligibility concerns might likewise increase in the population, possibly bringing in the situation in which social rights become potentially exclusive. Within the context of increasing geographical mobility in the Caribbean, it would not be expedient in the long term, to build more robust social citizenship structures, which would be inclusive of Trinidadians and Tobagonians, but exclusive of persons from other territories who are resident and most likely also working in the country. Citizenship comprises the twin aspects of duties and rights. Labour market participation is seen in the light of both rights and duties. Persons from other territories working in a country, exercise a right to work or gainful employment, and contribute at the same time to the economy. They fulfil a type of citizenship duty or responsibility. Social rights should not be denied in such circumstances, nor should they be circumscribed solely within the collectivity of naturalized individuals. It would be imperative to construct and operationalize a model of regional social citizenship in which individuals who reside and work in Caribbean countries other than their own, would be extended social rights on a par with the majority population. Several factors at the present time facilitate or necessitate, the fashioning of integrated regional social citizenship in the Caribbean. 6

7 In the first place, the social citizenship and social rights structures are at a relatively basic level. Welfare and service provision is still at a residual level. Social rights and citizenship will gradually be strengthened as states increasingly appreciate the significance of the social and human dimensions of development. The present time would opportune for considering the region-wide implications and integrated models of social rights, even as states move toward more comprehensive social citizenship and human welfare arrangements at national level. The linkages across states, if based on common social citizenship arrangements, could work in an inclusionary manner across the region. This is an extension of the argument that welfare systems function as instruments of inclusion in nation states. The Caribbean has sought for regional cohesion and solidarity in the economic sphere. The natural direction to pursue the same ends in the social and human development shpere. Labour mobility, as one major form of mobility, in the region, cannot be promulgated in a social policy vacuum. Increased and more complex labour flows would call policy and programme initiatives that would sustain quality in a regional labour force. Previous research indicates elements of solidarity in official attitudes to other Caribbean nationals (Valtonen 1996). Geographical mobility is a historic feature in Caribbean societies. Among citizens, informal welfare mechanisms at interpersonal level, and in the community organization arena are tolerant and often inclusive of different types of diversity. Informal welfare mechanisms featuring mutual assistance and support activities, are the backbone of civil society. There is potential for the emergence of bridging and solidary links across status, ethnocultural and other differences in the NGO/civil society field of welfare generation. Present day migration flows are two-way in that migrants do not necessarily settle for life in the destination country. The convenience of communication and travel also facilitate movement back and forth between the country of origin and that of settlement. Individuals have a wider range of alternatives to permanent settlement and naturalization in the country of work and residence. Dual citizenship formalizes the dual location and dual rooting of individuals who form part of the flow between territories. The question of how human welfare and citizenship arrangements will cater for individuals residing and working outside their territories of origin, should be a central consideration in constructing national policy and programmes. 7

8 Bibliography Aleinikoff, A. T. and Klusmeyer, D. (eds.) (2001) Citizenship Today: global perspective and practice. International Migration Policy Programme, Comparative Citizenship Project, Volume II. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Berrios, Ruben (2003) Comparing Development Outcomes: ( ), Social and Economic Studies 52(2), pp Cuba and Costa Rica Lister, R. (1998) Citizenship on the margins: Citizenship, social work and social action, European Journal of Social Work Vol. 1, No. 1, pp Lister, R. (1997) Citizenship: Feminist Perspectives. New York University Press. Ministry of Social Development: The determination and measurement of poverty in Trinidad and Tobago 1996 Marshall, T.H. (1950) Citizenship and Social Class and Other Essays. Cambridge University Press. New York: Naipaul, V. (1998) Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions among the Converted Peoples. London: Abacus Seers, D. ( 1972) What are we trying to measure?. In Nancy Baster (ed.) Measuring Development: The Role and Adequacy of Development Indicators. London: Frank Cass. Valtonen, K. (1996) Bread and Tea: A Study of the Integration of Low-Income Immigrants from Other Caribbean Territories into Trinidad, International Migration Review 30(4) pp Valtonen, K. (2001) Cracking monopoly: immigrants and employment in Finland, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 27(3), pp Werbner, P. (2002) The place which is diaspora: citizenship, religion and gender in the making of chaordic transnationalism, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 28(1), pp i This is based on insight from Naipaul s (1998:279) narration on the progression of Rana s ideas through powerlessness to rights. ii See Lister ( ) iii See Werbner (2002) who uses this term to describe the nature of links in diasporic communities. 8