Leading British political theorist, Professor Sir Bernard Crick is calling for more active citizenship to counter what he describes as the passivity of the consumer society.

Opening this year's prestigious Stevenson Lecture series at the University of Glasgow at 6pm on Thursday 5 October, Sir Bernard warns that: "we are in danger of losing the desire and ability to be active citizens and if we don't do, we will be done by ﾅ too few of us are willing to stir our stumps to be active citizens to work for a better society.

"As we may now be facing the ability of either politicians or publics to effect outcomes that can actually degrade the planet," Sir Bernard says, "we should need no excuses to think deeply and broadly. From out of the Graeco-Roman world, that we broadly call Western, two great inventions have come: natural science and the ideas and practices of free citizenship. But neither can be taken for granted. Both need constant activity and, today, rejuvenation."

Sir Bernard argues it is not enough for us to be merely 'good' citizens we need also to be 'active' citizens. He says: "In ordinary talk, one sees liberal theory as demanding 'good citizenship', invoking 'the rule of law', good behaviour, individual rights and at its best moral virtues of care and concern for others, beginning with neighbours and hopefully reaching out to strangers; but it may stop short of demanding 'active citizenship', what scholars call 'civic republicanism', which is people combining together effectively to change or resist change."

Read a full transcript of Sir Bernard's lecture here

Sir Bernard's lecture, 'Civic Republicanism and Citizenship: the challenge for today' is the first in a series of five lectures on the theme of 'Citizenship: the concept and principles of active citizenship in history, law, education and community identities' to be held at 6pm on Thursday in the Sir Charles Wilson Building, at the junction of Gibson Street and University Avenue.

Subsequent lectures in the series are as follows: Professor Andrew Lockyer, "Citizenship, Justness and Young People" on Thursday 19 October; Professor Bart McGettrick, "Citizenship and Values: the school and beyond" on Thursday 2 November; George Reid (Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament), "Citizenship in Scotland and Scottish Citizenship" on Thursday 23 November; Professor Mona Siddiqui, "Islam and Citizenship" on Thursday 7 December.

The lectures are free and open to all without ticket. Each lecture will be followed by questions and discussion and there will be an opportunity to informally meet the speakers at a reception after the lecture.

Martin Shannon (m.shannon@admin.gla.ac.uk)

Professor Sir Bernard Crick, Stevenson Visiting Professor of the University of Glasgow, will open the series with a lecture on ?Civic Republicanism and Citizenship: the challenge for today? at 6pm on Thursday 5 October in the Sir Charles Wilson Building.

Sir Bernard was knighted in 2001 for ?services to citizenship and political studies?, awarded an honorary degree of the University of Glasgow in July this year and appointed Stevenson Visiting Professor for 2006-07. He is author of In Defence of Politics, George Orwell: a Life, and recently Essays on Citizenship and Democracy: a very short book. David Blunkett appointed him as chair the advisory group that reported as The Teaching of Citizenship and Democracy in Schools (QCA, 1998) leading to citizenship into the English national curriculum.

Subequently he was appointed by the Home Secretary in 2002 to chair the United Kingdom advisory group on citizenship and language learning for immigrants seeking naturalisation which reported in 2004 as The New and the Old. He was first chair of ABNI (Advisory Board for Naturalisation and Integration). resigning in March 2005.

He migrated to Scotland in 1984 and wrote with David Miller the pamphlet To Make the Parliament of Scotland a Model for Democracy which influenced the procedures of the new parliament. He is currently working on a book on the history on the United Kingdom as a multinational state and multicultural society.

Sir Bernard has organised the Stevenson lecture series together with Professor Andrew Lockyer who will chair the first session on behalf of the Stevenson trustees and the university.

First published: 5 October 2006