From Gastarbeiter to “Ausländische Mitbürger”: Postnational Citizenship and In-Between Identities in Berlin

Abstract

The recent condition of complexity within nation-states, triggered by the visibility of transnational communities and by the political demands of cultural identities, indicates that the traditional tools of national narratives with respect to articulations of identity and membership are exhausted. The debate on postnationalism suggests that unbounding citizenship from its national narrative would create the conditions in which the contentious issues of cultural recognition and representation could be resolved without resorting to the narrow confines of national narratives. This paper argues that that even though the postnationalism debate makes an important contribution in terms of indicating alternative forms of citizenship that are not tied to national discourse, it seriously underestimates the deep political connection between citizenship regimes and national narratives. By separating citizenship from national discourse, the postnationalism debate overlooks the ways in which transnational, ethnic, religious, sexual and other cultural identities interact with national narratives to negotiate their citizenship rights. More importantly, this assumed separation of citizenship rights from national discourse fails to acknowledge that the particular forms of citizenship rights, such as political representation and cultural recognition, and how they are exercised, are intertwined with the cultural hegemony of national narratives. Finally, the tension between citizenship regimes and national narratives provides the political space within which formerly marginalized groups and identities can invoke otherness to negotiate the cultural boundaries of nation-states. In other words, the politics of citizenship invoked by marginalized groups and identities is not simply about legal claims but also includes political attempts to reconfigure national narratives.

Republican Citizenship in Turkey: Historical Development, Perceptions and Practices

“…Baban also argues that this universalism, centred on the notion of the common good, serves in the creation of a homogenous national identity. 23 On the other hand, however, it results in different forms of exclusionary practices that hinder the representation of particular groups and identities. As a matter of fact, Baban suggests that the conception of Turkish citizenship is a communitarian practice: while trying to overcome the community-based social structure aiming to separate individuals from their traditional kinship, ethnic and religious ties by making them equal members of modern national society, the republican regime created another communitarian project in which multiplicity and pluralism were limited in order to realize a common good.…”

“…In addition, it is seen as a discriminatory and top-down structure that has developed historically on the centre-periphery conflict and is based on the rejection of differences. 8 However, there are very few studies that use empirical data to analyze citizenship by looking at the perspectives, perceptions and practices of citizens. 9 This article, the result of qualitative research conducted in Ankara, aims to depict the republican understanding of citizenship from the behaviour patterns and daily practices of citizens.…”

State-assisted Highly Skilled Return Programmes, National Identity and the Risk(s) of Homecoming: Israel and Germany Compared

“…Preuss (2003) notes the centrality of the shared German language and culture within the citizenship matrix and argues that German citizenship cannot be unmoored from the 'non-political intermediary spheres of economy and society, of culture and religion' (53). Thus, while Germanness and German citizenship are clearly contested, both are interwoven with the national narrative of the Christian majority (Baban 2006).…”

“…Despite a major overhaul of German citizenship law in 2000 that allows obtaining German citizenship via the inroads jus sanguinis and jus soli, and in which the period of naturalisation was pared down, ethnic and native Germans of Christian descent remain the normative citizen group (Baban 2006). Over the years Germanness might have become more open and cosmopolitan, but this openness has clear limits, which perpetuates the underlying attitude that Germanness bases indeed in ethnic and native German descent: 'One can be born here, have grown up here, have German citizenship etc.…”

The Performance of Cultural Citizenship: Audiences and the Politics of Multicultural Television Drama

“…As cultural difference continues to function as a cause for social exclusion in everyday life, it cuts across traditional citizenship regimes that officially guarantee equality of rights and obligations (Baban, 2006;Gilroy, 2000; Floris Müller is research associate at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. Joke Hermes is Professor at Hogeschool in Holland.…”