Editorial: Citizen Initiatives for Global Solidarity. The New Face of European Solidarity

In the editorial of this special issue the concept of citizen initiatives for global solidarity is introduced. It is no longer acceptable to approach citizens mainly or only as a passive subject in development cooperation. Recognising that citizens are not only recipients, donors or supporters but also active ‘development workers’ themselves makes it a topic worth studying. The fact that the decade-long focus on the usual suspects in international cooperation is extremely slow in being broadened only adds to this. The same holds for the continuing discussion about global citizenship which, according to Pollet et al. (2014), should essentially be about the extent to which ordinary citizens themselves are willing to act in order to contribute to development or to global justice.status: publishe