You are your citizenship
In diverse, urbanized societies characterized by high levels of immigration, individuals construct identities from many elements: cultural, religious, demographic, professional, sexual, etc. But for Irene Bloemraad, an associate professor of sociology at the University of California at Berkeley and CIFAR researcher, citizenship constitutes the paramount source of identity.
“It provides an opening into democratic decision-making and civic engagement,” she says.
In countries such as Canada and the United States, these factors have great significance for refugees, illegal immigrants and landed immigrants. Bloemraad acknowledges that it is certainly possible for non-citizens to participate in the affairs of their communities – volunteering at local schools, taking part in tenants associations and so on.
But citizenship is “very consequential” and not just because it allows individuals the right to vote.
“It’s the ultimate protection against deportation,” notes Bloemraad. “In the U.S. context, if you are only a legal permanent resident and commit certain crimes, you will be removed.”
She argues that citizenship can be understood in four ways. It is, of course, a legal status but it also may be interpreted in terms of rights, affective identity, and participation. The meanings vary. Until the early 20th century, for example, American women enjoyed citizenship, but they did not have the right to cast votes. The identity aspect of citizenship can find collective expression as a sense of patriotism or nationalism. For Bloemraad, the most compelling definition is citizenship as a vehicle for participation in society and its institutions, such as the legal system.
“It gives you a sense of membership and a sense of being able to make legitimate claims against other members of your society.”
The diminishing importance of national borders in some regions, coupled with the growing sense of cultural identity in others, do provide a source of competition for the core concept of citizenship. In places such as Scotland or Quebec, citizenship for some individuals may take a back seat to their sense of national identity. In the European Union, by contrast, supranational citizenship in the EU allows for free movement, but Bloemraad says it continues to be a “weak” kind of identity because it derives from the citizenship conferred by individual, member governments.
More important, in her view, are the institutions that allow immigrants to acquire and attain a full sense of citizenship. In countries like Germany, guest workers and their offspring are unable to become full citizens, reflecting the country’s ambivalence about immigration. In countries like Canada and the U.S., by contrast, policies such as multiculturalism and the 14th amendment (which guarantees American citizenship to anyone born in the U.S.) are powerful signals that newcomers can realistically aspire to become full members of these societies.
There’s a “warmth of welcome,” she observes. “Especially for the second generation, you can’t question their status as members of that society.”
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Irene Bloemraad
Appointment: Scholar
Institution: University of California at Berkeley
Irene Bloemraad is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. She received her M.A from McGill and her Ph.D. from Harvard University. In 2009-2010, she is a visiting researcher at the Institute for Ethnic and Migration Studies at the University of Amsterdam.
Dr. Bloemraad studies the nexus between immigration, politics and national identities. Her 2006 book, Becoming a Citizen (University of California Press), won an honorable mention from the American Sociological Association’s International Migration section for best book published in the last two years. The book compares immigrants’ acquisition of citizenship and political participation in the United States and Canada, finding that government settlement and multiculturalism policies have influenced newcomers’ practice and understanding of citizenship such that immigrants to Canada show greater political incorporation than those in the United States.
Current projects examine the link between immigration-driven diversity and public-minded engagement, the visibility and influence of immigrant organizations, and the political socialization of immigrants and their native-born children. Professor Bloemraad has published on these and related topics in a variety of sociology and immigration journals. She also regularly presents her work to policy makers, academics and the general public.