The project traces how attitudes to creating new citizens have evolved from classical Athens to the present day, and what they can teach us about contemporary challenges.
It analyzes 13 milestones (namely, turning-points, central phases, and key concepts) on the historical development of law and theory of citizenship inclusion: Ancient Citizenship: Classical Athens and the Roman Empire; Medieval citizenship: Urban citizenship and religious affiliation; The Colonial World / Modern Empires; Common Law Citizenship: The Calvin’s Case; American Citizenship: Dred Scott and the 14th Amendment; Citizenship and Nationhood in the French Revolution (and its aftermath); Gender Equality in Citizenship Inclusion; The Internationalization of Citizenship Law (1929 Harvard Project & 1930 Hague Convention on Nationality); Changing Citizenship in Post-Colonial States; & Europeanization of Citizenship Law.
The novelty of the project is found in three aspects. First, while there are numerous historical studies on the notion of changing citizenship in certain states or on specific requirements, there are very few studies on the concept of changing citizenship; most studies are limited in scope (the topics covered), period (a time coverage), and place (a geographical coverage). Second, the historical exploration serves a purpose; it asks to understand the historical roots of contemporary challenges better; today’s challenges may be new, yet the same (or similar) type of questions and dilemmas existed in the past. And third, the historical survey presents substantial conceptual grounds, different methods, and different goals, means and criteria for changing the status of citizenship. It can demonstrate how different societies perceive their citizenship and political community by developing rules, strategies and practices aimed to include new people.
Attendance is by invitation only.
Organisers:
Federico Tomasello (EUI – Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and University of Venice)
In many countries across the world, citizenship revocation policies are back on the political agenda. While states have always had the power to revoke citizenship based on wide-ranging grounds, stripping persons of their citizenship is increasingly deployed by states as a counter-terrorism and deportation tool. Citizenship legislation is also used to exclude communities and restrict rights in the context of contestation of borders and national identity.
This webinar addresses the challenges that this revival raises for the study of citizenship as a secure and equal membership in a state. What is new about citizenship revocation practices? If citizenship can be, and is, more easily revoked by state authorities, does this imply a new conditional form of membership? How well can practices be compared between contexts? And, finally, how to ensure that international law obligations of states apply to all relevant situations in which states take or consider taking steps to deprive a person of citizenship as a national security measure.
The webinar brings together academics and practitioners in an effort to reflect both on the concrete policy implications of citizenship stripping and on its theoretical significance. The webinar takes a comparative perspective on this topic, with contributions that do not limit their focus to Western contexts.
To receive the ZOOM link to attend the webinar please REGISTER ONLINE by 20 September.
Organiser: Maarten Peter Vink (EUI – R.Schuman Center)