Constructing Citizenship

Abstract

This Presidential Address develops a sociological concept of citizenship, particularly substantive citizenship, as fundamentally a matter of belonging, including recognition by other members of the community. In this conception, citizenship is not simply a fixed legal status, but a fluid status that is produced through everyday practices and struggles. Historical examples illustrate the way in which boundaries of membership are enforced and challenged in everyday interactions. The experience of undocumented immigrant college students is particularly illuminating. These students occupy a position of liminal legality, which transcends fixed categories such as legal and illegal. As they go about their daily lives, their standing is affirmed in some settings and denied in others. Furthermore, the undocumented student movement, which asserts that education is a human and social right, represents a form of insurgent citizenship, one that challenges dominant formulations and offers an alternative and more inclusive conception.

Whitening a diverse Dutch classroom: white cultural discourses in an Amsterdam primary school

“…Although Dutch founding documents are not based on explicitly exclusionary principles, as are the USA's (Glenn 2011;Mills 1997), the Netherlands engaged in colonialism, genocide and enslavement overseas during 'the Dutch Golden Age' (Hira 2012;Nimako and Willemsen 2011). Long-standing national and international discourses reveal important similarities between discourses of whiteness and perceived characteristics of white Dutch.…”

Policing, Democratic Participation, and the Reproduction of Asymmetric Citizenship

“…As Marshall (1950) explained, formal citizenship rights do not guarantee substantive rights in practice. Citizenship is not a fixed state but “a fluid status that is produced through everyday practices and struggles” (Glenn 2011, 1). Social and political inequalities shape who has the “right to have rights” (Arendt 1976, 298): who belongs to the polity and who does not, and which rights matter and which are only on paper (da Matta 1987).…”

Paths to Mobility: A Longitudinal Evaluation of Earnings Among Latino/a DACA Recipients in California

“…This exclusion is oppressive for all undocumented immigrants but has unique ramifications for 1.5-generation immigrants, who grow up in the United States (Abrego, 2011;Gleeson & Gonzales, 2012;Vaquera et al, 2017). 1.5-generation immigrants are deeply embedded in U.S. culture and institutions such as schools and peer networks prior to reaching adulthood; formal exclusion from the institutions that govern adult life, such as the labor market, can represent a major setback (Gonzales, 2011;Gonzales & Chavez 2012;Kreisberg & Hsin 2020;Nakano, 2011;Silver, 2012). For instance, undocumented students who hope to achieve higher education and access well-paying jobs must come to terms with structural barriers to postsecondary education and the formal labor market.…”