Yulia Tolstikov-Mast, teaching faculty for the PhD in Leadership and Change, and doctoral student, Aleesha Ikayuk Towns-Bain, have co-authored a new encyclopedia entry titled “Global citizenship and diversity: Complexities and contested models,” in the Encyclopedia of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Spirituality.
Through a broader, more relational understanding of diversity, their chapter reimagines and expands the UNESCO model of global citizenship by framing diversity as interconnected variability among both human and non-human life—proposing that diversity equals life and that the core responsibility of global citizens is, fundamentally, to protect life.
Drawing on Indigenous perspectives, the authors highlight how Indigenous communities offer vital insights into sustainability, relationality, and multispecies connection. These frameworks complicate and deepen current models of global citizenship, suggesting that truly global responsibility must recognize a multispecies social connection model that extends ethical concern beyond humans alone.
