Marginalization and Citizenship

Abstract

Until the 1980s, discussions about citizenship were usually conducted within the framework of an optimistic vision of the future which saw the continued development of the welfare state as the way to increasing fulfillment of citizenship. By contrast, recent discussions have been more concerned with the challenges which might lead to other, less promising paths — in particular, the dangers of loss of citizenship as a consequence of globalization and post-industrial change (Roche 1992). These challenges are the subject of the next three chapters. In the first place, the classical visions were implicitly based on the assumption of autonomous nation-states; but what happens when nation-states become increasingly interdependent and, in particular, when supranational European integration creates new rights, new opportunities for participation, and new conditions of identity formation? Next, the classical visions were based on the assumption of relatively homogeneous populations with equal civil, political and social rights; but what happens when such societies experience massive immigration and increasing cultural heterogeneity? These questions are discussed in chapters 11 and 12, respectively.