NOTES:

● Postnationalism argues the devaluation of citizenship and nation-state. It has both

expansionary and contractionary thrusts
● Expansionary thrust of citizenship: citizenship is not just a person’s nationality but it is
linked with protest politics as well.
○ Different types of citizenship: global, cultural, diasporic, local, sexual,
ecological
○ Categories of citizenship continue to multiply (Global citizenship, Ecological
citizenship, Cultural citizenship, Diasporic citizenship, Local citizenship,
Sexual citizenship)
○ Citizenship is no longer linked with nationality and is now linked to protest
politics (Protest against police brutality, sexual preference politics, etc)
■ Early form of protest politics is lobbying whereas now it is citizenship
practice
○ Rights are no longer exclusive to national citizens residing in the nation-state
but are instead extended even to permanent residents.
■ These rights are not legitimized but are implemented via principle of
universal personhood as seen in post-war international human rights
norms and treaties
● Contractionary: Nationality or having a nation-state’s passport (what used to be the
core of citizenship) is less relevant to citizenship
○ Substance (what is) and location (where it happens) are removed from the
notion of nation-state and national citizenship
● Nationality and the possession of a passport is becoming less and less relevant to
citizenship
● The Limits of Citizenship (Soysal): National citizenship has been superseded by
forms of local and regional belonging. Rights aren’t just for citizens who hold a
passport but also by permanent residents. This isn’t implemented by the government
but there has been a concept of personhood, human rights norms and treaties.
● Rights separated from citizenship and identity separated from rights.
● Historical shift has two consequences
○ Concerning identity:
■ membership - local, regional, and global identities accommodates
rights, duties, and loyalty. Ex: Turkish people who live in Berlin, they
share a space with locals and other foreigners, they pay taxes, own
businesses and homes, they also receive welfare and attend schools
etc.- this makes them a “part of Berlin” (It is possible to be a Berliner
without being German)
■ Multiple memberships are possible through extended and expanded
local, regional, and global identities and accommodates intersecting
complexes of rights, duties, and loyalties
■ Scope of being part of Berlin prevents national fixities and allows the
traversing of multiple borders (Sosyal)
○ Concerning rights:
■ Citizenship and the nation-state matter less to rights because when
human rights have been legitimized, rights enjoyed by citizens have
become irrelevant
 ■ Transnational Migration- distinction between citizen and alien has
eroded because rights have come to be predicated on residency, not
citizen status.
■ Global economic forces’ effect on citizenship: workers migrate to other
countries to fll the lower-end service positions. After immigration,
naturalization occurs
■ Linda Bosniak: we should treat citizenship as a core political idea
● The nation-state as a rights-generator
○ The European Union
○ International law
● European citizenship as postnational citizenship
○ European citizenship clearly embodies postnational citizenship in its most
elaborate legal form (Soysal, 1994)
○ EU citizenship reinforces rather than detracts from national citizenship
○ EU citizenship does not challenge national citizenship
○ Almost 80% of what the European Union does is to make the single market
operate
○ EU is concerned with the mundane politics of packaging, standards
harmonization, and tariff reduction, not the exciting politics of citizenship,
nationhood, and identity
● International law and international treaties
○ For postnationalists, the increased importance of international law is the
second development undermining the nation-state as a rights-generator
○ The nation-state and its institutions are the important factors in securing the
rights of permanent residents.
○ Scholars continue to confuse the national and transnational, to cite the
domestic as evidence of the international, and to be (willfully or not) unaware
of the weakness of the evidence in favor of postnational arguments
● Post-what? Is postnationalism new?
○ Historical argument on which postnationalism depends: that citizenship used
to matter more, that it has been “hollowed out” over time
○ One cannot but conclude that the value of citizenship has much decreased
(Joppke, 1998)
○ A transformation of the meaning of “rights”, from positive to negative
○ Postnationalist arguments depend on a rupture or “epochal break” between
the conceptualization of citizenship pre-1939 and that of post-1945
■ Little evidence of such a definitive break
○ National citizenship was never the sole, and in many cases it was not the
most important, foundation of identity
○ Citizenship, in short, was the sole generator of neither rights nor identity
○ In the same way that national citizenship was not the only or even the most
important generator of rights, the privileges tied to it were not universally
shared.
● National citizenship and rights
○ National citizenship remains the sole basis for certain rights
○ National citizenship is also a predictor of these other forms of political
participation
● Citizenship in troubles times
 ○ Political participation is the most obvious citizenship-based right, but it is not
the only one
○ Claiming diplomatic protection depends not on the length or content of one’s
ties to a nationality community but rather on one’s citizenship.
○ Citizenship plays a role in fostering solidarity
○ National citizenship also ensures the right of return
● The nation-state strikes back: civic integration and reinvigorated citizenship
○ Two trends
■ First evidence: Poor educational attainment, low earnings, and high
unemployment among long-established ethnic minority communities in
Europe
■ Second evidence: a rise in extremism among some Muslim
communities
● Back to the future: citizenship in the new Europe
○ Expansion of the European Union has highlighted
■ How deficient European citizenship is as a source of rights (or identity)
■ The importance of attending to national citizenship in incorporating
migrants
● J’accuse: the moral poverty of postnationalism
○ J’accuse: French for “I accuse”
○ Postnationalists’ indifference to political citizenship is certainly curious,
possibly morally suspect

GROUP REPORT
Main theme in response to citizenship
● Citizenship is not defined or bound by (and goes beyond) territorial borders,
nationality, and nation-state.
● Postnationalism is not Citizenship

What new Ideas or information relevant to citizenship were communicated in the

article? How are these different from the mainstream definition of citizenship?
● Mainstream definition of citizenship: nationality or being a passport holder of a
country, giving you certain rights and privileges
● Nationality and the possession of a passport is becoming less and less relevant to
citizenship
● Citizenship matters less to rights because when human rights have been legitimized,
rights enjoyed by citizens have become irrelevant
● Local and regional belonging - Rights aren’t just for citizens who hold a passport but
also by permanent residents. This isn’t implemented by the government but there has
been a concept of personhood, human rights norms and treaties.
● Postnationalism has expansionary and contractionary thrusts
● National citizenship
○ Remains the sole basis for certain rights
○ A predictor of these other forms of political participation
○ Ensures the right of return and life-preservation
○ Plays a role in fostering solidarity
● Political participation is the most obvious citizenship-based right, but it is not the only
one
 ● Economic Citizenship- when a resident enjoys certain economic benefits and social
entitlements when they’re not actually a citizen
● Claiming diplomatic protection depends not on the length or content of one’s ties to a
nationality community but rather on one’s citizenship.

How did the authors arrive at the conclusion?

● Conclusion: Authors are against postnationalism because:
○ Economic Citizenship: non-citizens who are enjoying the rights to social
benefits or entitlements even if they are unemployed. This increases the
unemployment rate, affecting the whole nation.
○ Jacobson: “Aliens resident in the US and in Western European countries
have not felt any compelling need to naturalize even when it is possible”
● Postnationalists
○ Focus on economic and social entitlements - this overlooks the basic
importance of work in full social inclusion
○ Link new social movements with citizenship. - harmless however, issues with
culture and identity makes it harder for people to focus on economic issues
(Author believes that there are more pressing and important economic
questions to be answered)
○ Said nothing about the issue regarding the rejection of Europe’s ethnic
minorities of basic liberal democratic values
■ Basic liberal democratic values: liberty of the individual, dignity of the
person, freedom of expression, non-discrimination
■ Honor killings, female genital mutilation, gender discrimination,
homophobia, etc. are all found in Europe and are practiced by some
ethnic minority groups
■ “These developments do not have to be discussed in terms of
citizenship; they might be framed in other, better terms.” - Hansen
● Author believes that postnationalists have a poor understanding of basic facts about
the European Union
● Two trends that caught the attention of Western European policymakers
○ Poor educational attainment, low earnings, and high unemployment among
long-established ethnic minority communities in Europe
○ A rise in extremism among some Muslim communities

Were the conclusions valid? Do you agree with them?

● They are valid.
● Postnationalism causes economic marginalization.
○ Causes mass unemployment and is thus a significant factor that impedes
economic growth and development
● Postnationalism lacks an emancipatory thrust
○ Nationals will be disenfranchised and less empowered
○ Has underlying notions or implications that citizenship or nationalism can
easily be acquired, bought, or purchased under the guise of universal human
rights
● Postnationalism overlooks the rejection of liberal values or cultural norms observed in
the respective country.
 ○ For example, a minority from a country where homophobia is persistent will
be homophobic in a country where locals respect gender differences and
diversity.

Try to apply the findings in your locality or the state in general.

● National
○ The non-assertive stand of the Philippine government on the West Philippine
Sea puts not just our national sovereignty at risk but will also decrease
economic opportunities for the country.
○ Filipinos demand the Philippine government to close national borders and
impose a travel ban on tourists due to the rising ncov cases internationally.
○ The Build Build Build program of the Philippine government awards contracts
to Chinese contracts and hires Chinese workers that cause the influx of
Chinese nationals in the country.
● Local
○ Flying voters cause the disenfranchisement of many residents of towns,
cities, or municipalities. If more voters who are not really locals or residents
cause the election of a candidate that is not the choice of the locals, they will
be left less empowered and disenfranchised in socio-political processes.