Shapeshifting Citizenship in Germany: Expansion, Erosion and Extension

The COMCAD Working Paper Series is intended to aid the rapid distribution of work in progress , research findings and special lectures by researchers and associates of COMCAD. Papers aim to stimulate discussion among the worldwide community of scholars, policymak-ers and practitioners. They are distributed free of charge in PDF format via the COMCAD website. The COMCAD Working Papers is a work-in-progress online series. Each paper receives only limited review. The opinions expressed in the papers are solely those of the author/s who retain the copyright. Comments on individual Working Papers are welcomed, and should be directed to the author/s. Outlook: " We " and the " Others " References Working Papers – Center on Migration, Citizenship and Development 4 1. On the Renaissance of Citizenship Since the 1980s, the term citizenship has again come into common usage. It is a term employed in debates over the concept of social rights and social citizenship in the context of the transformation of welfare states. It is also used, in the wake of immigration, in public and academic debates over access to full membership for immigrants in countries of immigration (and emigration) by parentage, birthright or naturalization. The concept of citizenship travelled from the Anglo-Saxon debate into German-speaking countries where it encountered the older term " Staatsangehörigkeit " (nationality), which defines the legal dimension of state membership. Although the term citizenship is frequently translated as " nationality, " it makes more sense to broaden the latter term to citizenship, as concepts of membership beyond the state in the narrower sense have also gained significance, as in the case of citizenship of the European Union (EU). The two examples of the welfare state and migration referenced above reflect the challenges facing relations between citizens and the state on the one hand, and relations among citizens on the other. With the transformation of welfare states questions arise such as whether the conditionalization of claims might impair the principle of equal social rights for all citizens. The initial challenge to state citizenship arising from international migration is the exclusion of non-members. Citizenship guarantees by law and by obligation the inclusion of full members (citizens) in varied functional relationships such as the labour market, education or politics. Such a duality of social closure by way of inclusion and exclusion could at best be eliminated by the existence of world citizenship. The presence of non-citizens, moreover, questions …