The multiplicity of citizenship: transnational and local practices and identifications of middle‐class migrants |
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Authors: | MARIANNE VAN BOCHOVE KATJA RUSINOVIC GODFRIED ENGBERSEN |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. vanbochove@fsw.eur.nl;2. Department of Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. rusinovic@fsw.eur.nl;3. Department of Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. engbersen@fsw.eur.nl |
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Abstract: | In this article we focus on local and transnational forms of active citizenship, understood as the sum of all political practices and processes of identification. Our study, conducted among middle‐class immigrants in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, indicates that the importance of active transnational citizenship should not be overstated. Among these immigrants, political practices are primarily focused on the local level; political practices directed to the home country appear to be quite rare. However, although transnational activities in the public sphere are rather exceptional, many immigrants do participate in homeland‐directed activities in the private sphere. If we look at processes of identification, we see that a majority of the middle‐class immigrants have a strong local identity. Many of them combine this local identification with feelings of belonging to people in their home country. |
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Keywords: | LOCAL CITIZENSHIP TRANSNATIONAL CITIZENSHIP IMMIGRANT MIDDLE CLASS POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IDENTIFICATION THE NETHERLANDS |
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