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# Citizenship, knowledge and the limits of humanity
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/citizenship-knowledge-and-limits-of-humanity/
- Published: 2013-05-11T11:05:55.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-23T01:25:54.000Z
- Description: The question of citizenship lies at the heart of the legitimacy of rule and political subjectivity, but its origins are European and orientalist. In a dewesternizing world, how can citizenship be reconceptualised? (Video, 33 minutes)
- Author: Walter Mignolo
- Tags: Politics & activism, #Migrated, Oecumene: Citizenship after Orientalism, Democracy and government, ideas, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 17:36, #ImagesUploaded, #appended-excerpt

See also [this interview with Walter Mignolo](https://www.opendemocracy.net/walter-mignolo/walter-mignolo-on-orientalism-and-occidentalism) on orientalism and occidentalism.

*This video is part of a series published this week from the Oecumene project's second symposium, '*[*Deorientalising Citizenship?*](http://www.oecumene.eu/events/2nd-symposium?ref=opendemocracy.net)*'. All of the videos will appear on the* [*Oecumene: Citizenship after Orientalism*](https://www.opendemocracy.net/freeform-tags/oecumene-citizenship-after-orientalism) *partnership page, which is funded by the Oecumene Project and the Open University.*

![An editorial partnership with Open University](https://www.opendemocracy.net/content/files/2026/04/OUEPLOGO_BQH6Kio-1776367189570.png)

An editorial partnership with Open University

The question of citizenship lies at the heart of the legitimacy of rule and political subjectivity, but its origins are European and orientalist. In a dewesternizing world, how can citizenship be reconceptualised? *(Video, 33 minutes)*