Shaping citizenship in globalized world: the survival of national identities

Citizenship and membership in a nation state may constitute significant elements of identity. Every society looks for the legitimacy of the principles governing it within its own origins. Therefore, cultural diversity is synonymous with juridical and ethical difference, which can range from the recognition of several sources of legitimacy of law to a different relationship between these sources. In the legal sphere, each society’s constant pursuit of its own origins has its greatest expression in the rules of citizenship chosen. For example, the provision of citizenship tests within the EU Member States’ naturalization policies bears witness to this attitude, strengthening the requirements to obtain the citizenship. In fact, during the last decade, the European Union has experienced the rise of test-based forms of integration and this indicates the adaptation of the legal system to increasing flows of migration. Similarly, in the Middle East, the State of Israel represents a paradigmatic case of how the survival of cultural ties is nowadays maintained in granting citizenship. This also highlights how the national law adapts to the historical context in order to respect economic, political and social rights. Against the perceived Jewish diaspora, indeed, the State of Israel established the Law of Return (ḥok ha-shvūt), which is that all Jews have the right to return and obtain, along with citizenship, other facilities to rebuild their lives there (‘aliyah). Could these two approaches from Western Europe and the Middle East testify to a strong state sovereignty in choosing their ideal citizens? In conclusion, the purpose of the paper is to show how naturalization policies are still deeply influenced by historical, cultural and social elements. Nevertheless, the globalization and the consequent loss of importance of political geography in view of functional geography, affecting both government policies and the lives of individuals, weaken the traditional association between citizenship and national identity. Indeed, it nurtures a strategic approach to national belonging that allows countries to devise new methods of choosing citizens according to not only ethnic but also economic and political types of preference, as many states “offer” rights to individuals living outside their borders. Therefore, citizenship does not always constitute a strong link between the individual and the country of origin or residence. People move freely between states where they have strong family ties, property and a political interest in the society. Thus, individuals are increasingly only interested in earning the benefits of acquiring further citizenship, without paying attention to the connection they can establish with the state of citizenship. Could these naturalization systems be considered anachronistic in the context of the XXI century globalized world?