Citizenship Nationality And Migration In Europe

Throughout Europe longstanding ideas of what it means to be a citizen are being challenged. The sense of belonging to a nation has never been more in flux. Simultaneously, nationalistic and racist movements are gaining ground and barriers are being erected against immigration. This volume examines how concepts of citizenship have evolved in different countries and varying contexts. It explores the interconnection between ideas of the nation, modes of citizenship and the treatment of migrants. Adopting a multi-disciplinary and international approach, this collection brings together experts from several fields including political studies, history, law and sociology. By juxtaposing four European countries - Britain, France, Germany and Italy - and setting current trends against a historical background, it highlights important differences and exposes similarities in the urgent questions surrounding citizenship and the treatment of minorities in Europe today.

In EU Citizenship, Nationality and Migrant Status: An Ongoing Challenge, Kristīne Krūma offers an account of the regulation of nationality at international, EU and national (Latvian) levels. Growing global migration and multiple individual loyalties lead to a fusion of national identities traditionally preserved by the EU Member States. Dismantling national borders and granting directly effective rights to EU citizens broadens our understanding about belonging only to the limited territory of a single State. The primary focus is the status of the EU citizenship, which has become a meaningful status capable of satisfying claims by citizens. The Latvian example shows that migrant status cannot be ignored because of the crucial role of migrants in the future construct of the EU.

This incisive book provides a succinct overview of the new academic field of citizenship and immigration, as well as presenting a fresh and original argument about changing citizenship in our contemporary human rights era. Instead of being nationally resilient or in “postnational” decline, citizenship in Western states has continued to evolve, converging on a liberal model of inclusive citizenship with diminished rights implications and increasingly universalistic identities. This convergence is demonstrated through a sustained comparison of developments in North America, Western Europe and Australia. Topics covered in the book include: recent trends in nationality laws; what ethnic diversity does to the welfare state; the decline of multiculturalism accompanied by the continuing rise of antidiscrimination policies; and the new state campaigns to “upgrade” citizenship in the post-2001 period. Sophisticated and informative, and written in a lively and accessible style, this book will appeal to upper-level students and scholars in sociology, political science, and immigration and citizenship studies.

This book studies the normative intersection between integration, immigration and nationality in the European Union (EU). It examines the relationship between integration and the legal frameworks of admission, stay and access to nationality by third country nationals at national and European levels. Integration is being subject to multifaceted processes transforming its traditional policy and legal settings, as well as its classical theoretical premises and approaches. The Europeanisation of immigration policy has provoked the emergence of distinctive European approaches on integration. The legal elements of integration are being developed through two parallel settings: the EU Framework on Integration and European immigration law. These venues constitute two of the main pillars upon which the common EU immigration policy is being constructed, and their nexus raises several elements in need of reflection and study. This book examines the processes through which integration becomes a norm in nationality and immigration law and policy at the national and EU levels, and the implications of these processes for the legal status of third country nationals and the overall coherency of the common EU immigration policy.

From international press coverage of the French government’s attempt to prevent Muslims from wearing headscarves to terrorist attacks in Madrid and the United States, questions of cultural identity and pluralism are at the center of the world’s most urgent events and debates. Presenting an unprecedented wealth of empirical research garnered during ten years of a cross-cultural project, Contested Citizenship addresses these fundamental issues by comparing collective actions by migrants, xenophobes, and antiracists in Germany, Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Revealing striking cross-national differences in how immigration and diversity are contended by different national governments, these authors find that how citizenship is constructed is the key variable defining the experience of Europe’s immigrant populations. Contested Citizenship provides nuanced policy recommendations and challenges the truism that multiculturalism is always good for immigrants. Even in an age of European integration and globalization, the state remains a critical actor in determining what points of view are sensible and realistic—and legitimate—in society. Ruud Koopmans is professor of sociology at Free University, Amsterdam. Paul Statham is reader in political communications at the University of Leeds. Marco Giugni is a researcher and teacher of political science at the University of Geneva. Florence Passy is assistant professor of political science at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

The book examines the phenomenon of dual nationality in the European Union, particularly against the background of the status of European citizenship – a status that is linked to the nationality of each EU Member State. While the first part sets out the approach towards (dual) nationality in Public and Private International Law as well as in EU Law, the second part consists of an overview of the dual nationality regimes in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. The book shows that the autonomy of Member States in the field of nationality law is becoming increasingly problematic for the EU, and the author takes the position that there is arguably a need for the (minimum) harmonization of European nationality laws.

Understanding the dynamics of the illiberal practices of liberal states is increasingly important in Europe today. This book examines the changing relationship between immigration, citizenship and integration at the European and national arenas. It studies some of the main effects and questions the comprehensiveness of the exchange and coordination of public responses to the inclusion of third country nationals in Europe, as well as their compatibility with a common European immigration policy driven by a rights-based approach and the respect of the principles of fair and equal treatment of third country nationals. The volume reviews key national experiences of immigration and citizenship laws, the use of integration and the 'moving of ideas' between national arenas. The framing of integration in immigration and citizenship law and the ways in which policy convergence is being achieved through the EU framework on integration raises a number of conceptual dilemmas and a set of definitional premises in need of reflection and consideration.

Adopting a comparative approach, the book examines the evolution of nationality law across the European Union since WWI. It explores the hypothesis that two factors, the experience of large-scale non-European immigration and the need to integrate a large and growing third country national population, have forced a convergence in European nationality law. The book accords attention to the role of gender and decolonisation in reforms to nationality law.