MICITHISEN

Migration and Citizenship in Western Europe: A History

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The proposed project provides a historical analysis of the impact of human mobility on the institution of citizenship and the definition of citizenry in the countries that historically played a major role in founding the European Union. A useful cross-fertilization between history and the social sciences characterizes this innovative study of citizenship and nationhood in Western Europe, which compares the impact of migration on the policies and politics of citizenship of Belgium, France, (West) Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, from the 19th century to the 1990s. This research brings an original contribution to the studies on citizenship in Europe and a deeper understanding of the political cultures and legal traditions underpinning them. It tackles questions that have been overlooked so far by studies of comparative political science, as it adopts a much-needed historical perspective to analyse each country's historical patterns of nationhood and legal traditions. It does not concentrate only on immigration, but it assesses as well the influences of both emigration and internal migration on their politics and policies of citizenship. The project represents an important attempt to bridge history and socials sciences in their study of citizenship and the definition of citizenry. It turns to theory to explain historical data and analyses on the relationship between migration and citizenship, in an attempt both to overcome the disciplinary tendency of historians to build narratives of the particular and to avoid any methodological nationalism. At the same time, it offers a major contribution to the development of theories on citizenship by challenging them against the litmus tests of history and broad comparison.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Recent research offers new insights into how migration impacted the policies and politics of citizenship in countries that were instrumental in the founding of the EU.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The EU-funded project 'Migration and citizenship in western Europe: a history' (MICITHISEN) bridged the fields of history and the social sciences for an innovative study of citizenship and nationhood. The particular focus was on human mobility and citizenship and citizenry and covered the period from the 19th century to the 1990s.

Research expanded on studies of comparative political science to date, analysing each country's historical patterns of nationhood and legal traditions. It assessed the influences of both emigration and internal migration on the politics and policies of citizenship in these countries.

Adopting a much-needed historical perspective, the project considered Germany, Ireland, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. The goal was to assess how states strategically plan and organise population mobility in response to challenges posed by a globalised market. The states have highly comparable historical developments as all share long-standing traditions of consolidation and construction of national identities in relation to human mobility.

Using theory to explain historical data and analyses, research was also based on primary sources from national archives and on relevant government statistics. As a result, MICITHISEN succeeded in developing the state of the art in fields related to political theory and history, international relations, citizenship and migration studies.

The initiative contributed to a deeper understanding of the political cultures and legal traditions underpinning studies on citizenship in Europe. Its outcomes offer new perspectives for the development of theories on sovereignty and citizenship, nationalism and imperialism. As such, project outcomes also have implications for the EU's governance of borders, immigrant inflows, welfare systems and the labour market.