Identity, Belonging and Strategic Citizenship. Considerations About Naturalisation Among Italians and Spaniards Living in the EU

Iraklis Dimitriadis () and Fabio Quassoli
Additional contact information
Iraklis Dimitriadis: University of Milan
Fabio Quassoli: University of Milano-Bicocca

Journal of International Migration and Integration, 2022, vol. 23, issue 3, No 8, 1127-1146

Abstract: Abstract The subject of naturalisation among intra-EU migrants has only recently drawn the attention of social science scholars. Empirical evidence from quantitative studies shows an increase in citizenship applications among this new wave of mobile people, indicating a strategic use of naturalisation. However, there is not a great deal of micro-level research, especially as to the subjective meanings attached to citizenship take-up in a new EU member state. Drawing on 68 in-depth interviews conducted with Italians and Spaniards living in London and Berlin, we argue that an individual’s understanding of naturalisation within the EU context is based on two aspects: on one hand, a strictly pragmatic evaluation of the pros and cons of the new status; on the other, a new sense of belonging as well as new cultural and territorial identifications that intra-EU migrants are not often willing to experience. Therefore, this article suggests that EU migrants that strongly identify with their country of origin and the EU see national and EU identities as conflicting with naturalisation, thus setting aside instrumental considerations. This constitutes a critique to theoretical approaches claiming the diminishing importance of a nation’s cultural self-understanding. Our paper also sheds light on the possible effect of the UK’s departure from the EU on young Southern European migrants choosing to apply for British citizenship, highlighting that it is mostly the implementation of the formal exit process and the actual abrogation of EU citizenship rights that reconfigure patterns in naturalisation, rather than the uncertainty and fears about the future.

Keywords: Naturalisation; Citizenship; Intra-EU migration; Brexit (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12134-021-00870-w Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:joimai:v:23:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s12134-021-00870-w

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer ... tudies/journal/12134

DOI: 10.1007/s12134-021-00870-w

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of International Migration and Integration is currently edited by Lori Wilkinson

More articles in Journal of International Migration and Integration from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().