Global citizens found in the most unlikely places

Unauthorised immigrants are the most direct enactors of global citizenship according to a new book by a human rights expert at the University of Birmingham. In his latest book, The Practice of Global Citizenship, Senior Lecturer in Political Theory, Dr Luis Cabrera, explores what it means to be a global citizen - a person who takes responsibility for helping to protect human rights - in today's society. Cabrera conducted extensive field research in the United States, Mexico and Western Europe, interviewing more than 260 activists, unauthorised immigrants, human smugglers and law-enforcement officers, on their differing notions of citizenship and how they put this into practice. One aspect of the field research was carried out in the Arizona desert, on the Mexican border that, in the last 15 years, has seen more than 2,000 people die trying to cross it in the ultimate pursuit of happiness and a better life in America. Cabrera spoke to unauthorised immigrants, the humanitarian volunteer group 'No More Deaths' seeking to protect the immigrants' rights, and the armed 'Minuteman' activists trying to keep them out. Although each group has juxtaposing citizenship outlooks, Cabrera argues that they share a common practice. Desert humanitarians are reaching across boundaries of national citizenship to protect the core rights of others.