SIXTH INTERNATIONAL METROPOLIS CONFERENCE

WORKSHOP 26: Contemporary Developments in Transnationalism and Citizenship Policy

Wednesday, November 28, 2001
14:00 - 17:30

ORGANIZERS

Birgit Brandt (University of Warwick)
Zig Layton Henry (University of Warwick)
Integration Branch (Citizenship and Immigration Canada)

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

First Session: Transnational Citizenship : Challenges for Policy Formulation
Citizenship has outgrown its national dress. On the one hand, nation states are no longer the sole and supreme source for determining citizenship policies. On the other, many citizens have ceased to practice their citizenship in only one national setting. The emergence of transnational dimensions of citizenship pose a critical challenge to today's policy-makers, activists and academics. The principal aim of this session is to conceptualise citizenship in a transnational context and to discuss subsequent policy implications. For this purpose, the session will address critical theoretical and political considerations which are to be illustrated at concrete research findings. In particular, the session will test some of the assumptions of policy makers in regard to dual nationality, access to rights and political engagement in more than one country, multiple loyalties, and issues relating to inclusion and exclusion of ethnic minorities.

The main speakers in the workshop's first session will be the group of Metropolis scholars involved in the transatlantic project on Citizenship and Transnational Communities, namely Birgit Brandt and Zig Layton-Henry in Britain/Germany and Audrey Kobayashi, David Ley, Guida Mann, Valerie Preston, and Myer Siemieticki in Canada. We will invite one further academic to write a conceptual paper and four policy makers to comment on the papers.

Second Session: Citizenship Policy Developments in the National, Regional, and Global Contexts

The second session will bring together policy makers, scholars, and nationality experts from various regions, including Europe, Asia-Pacific, and North America, to discuss contemporary citizenship policy developments through international comparison. Topics to be discussed include, but are not limited to the notion of public interest in the citizenship context, the European Convention on Nationality, and the meaning of attachment to a country in the global context. The aim of the workshop's second session is to develop a general understanding of the current challenges faced in each region and the policy mechanisms in existence to meet them. The exchange between participants will yield information to foster further collaboration towards common goals.

DURATION: 2 Sessions (3 hours)

STRUCTURE
Eight papers are to be discussed in total; in order to use the workshop time effectively and to enable a productive discussion between academics, policy makers and the voluntary sector, the papers will be circulated in advance to discussants and registered workshop participants; during the workshop the discussants comment on the papers (10 minutes each), this is followed by a short reply from the authors and an open discussion.

Outcome & Dissemination: The first session is taped and transcribed. The members of the Transnational Communities research teams will edit a best practice/policy brochure based on the papers and discussion in the first session. This brochure will be made available to the Metropolis Network. Further, it is planned to publish the first session papers (in addition to others) in an edited academic book.

Workshop Programme
First Session: Transnational Citizenship: Challenges for Policy Formulation
-Transnational Citizenship - A Challenge for Policy Formulation
-Transnational Citizenship and Membership
-Transnational Citizenship and Social/ Political Inclusion
-Transnational Citizenship and Political Engagement

Second Session: Citizenship Policy Developments in the National, Regional and Global Contexts
- Citizenship Policy in the Global Context: What is the Meaning of Attachment to a Country?
- Citizenship Policy in the Global Context: Comparative Citizenship Law and Policy in Certain Developed States
- Citizenship Policy in the Regional Context: The European Convention on Nationality
- Citizenship Policy in the National Context: Public Interest in the Context of Citizenship

PARTICIPANTS

Alex T. Alienikoff, Georgetown University, USA
Patricia Birkett, Citizenship and Immigration, Canada
Carol Batchelor, UNHCR
Rainer Baubock, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria
Lyle Boelens, US Immigration and Naturalisation Services, USA
Birgit Brandt, University of Warwick, UK
Peter Hughes, Department of Immigration and Multicultiral Affairs, Australia
Christopher Kelly, Immigration and Nationality Directorate, UK
Audrey Kobayashi, Queen's University, Canada
Zig Layton-Henry, University of Warwick, UK
Geoff May, Department of Internal Affairs, New Zealand
Annette Offenberger, Department of Internal Affairs, New Zealand
Lori Peitropaoli, US Immigration and Naturalisation Services, USA