ABSTRACT

Belonging and membership in societies depend on resources, societal structures, and stateside frames rather than on postulated and essentialized identities. Throughout the ages migrants have changed societies and affiliations; globalization emerged in the 1490s when the tri-continental    African-Asian-European worlds and the dual American continent became connected. Migrants moved translocally or transregionally – the “trans” emphasizes connections across dividing lines or spaces, to continuities cre- ated (or, perhaps, merely mentally constructed) by human agency. This essay approaches the topic from four angles: (1) migrants’“funds of knowledge,”(2) newcomers’“Otherness,”(3) power hierarchies, and (4) connectivity-inclusions-exclusions. In conclusion, belongings of globally mobile men and women will be discussed as transcultural rather than transnational.

KEYWORDS: migration, transnational, transcultural, globalization, Otherness, funds of knowledge

ABSTRACT

Belonging and membership in societies depend on resources, societal structures, and stateside frames rather than on postulated and essentialized identities. Throughout the ages migrants have changed societies and affiliations; globalization emerged in the 1490s when the tri-continental    African-Asian-European worlds and the dual American continent became connected. Migrants moved translocally or transregionally – the “trans” emphasizes connections across dividing lines or spaces, to continuities cre- ated (or, perhaps, merely mentally constructed) by human agency. This essay approaches the topic from four angles: (1) migrants’“funds of knowledge,”(2) newcomers’“Otherness,”(3) power hierarchies, and (4) connectivity-inclusions-exclusions. In conclusion, belongings of globally mobile men and women will be discussed as transcultural rather than transnational.

KEYWORDS: migration, transnational, transcultural, globalization, Otherness, funds of knowledge

ABSTRACT

The aim of the paper is to analyse metaphors used in imagining forms of citizenship. It moves away from the conventional formula of researching citizens as metaphors in various contexts and introduces a new research perspective: relations between citizens as metaphors. It begins by outlining five major theoretical and methodological considerations relevant to a study of metaphors. The second part of the paper deals with complexities of change in citizenship concepts through metaphors from organic to body politic, mechanistic and multidivisional (regional, global, social, sexual, etc) in the era of globalisation. KEY WORDS: citizenship, metaphors, changes in citizenship, era of globalisation.

ABSTRACT

The aim of the paper is to analyse metaphors used in imagining forms of citizenship. It moves away from the conventional formula of researching citizens as metaphors in various contexts and introduces a new research perspective: relations between citizens as metaphors. It begins by outlining five major theoretical and methodological considerations relevant to a study of metaphors. The second part of the paper deals with complexities of change in citizenship concepts through metaphors from organic to body politic, mechanistic and multidivisional (regional, global, social, sexual, etc) in the era of globalisation. KEY WORDS: citizenship, metaphors, changes in citizenship, era of globalisation.

ABSTRACT

“If They Did Not Exist They Would Have To Be Invented” – 
The Role of Immigrants and Their Regulation in the American Socio-Political Context

The article explores the multidimensional, heterogeneous and complex role that immigrants and their regulation played and play in the American socio-political context. It argues that immigrants have played and play a crucial role in the establishment and development of the American republic. They were and are crucial for the continuous re-inscriptions of symbolic and material boundaries of the American na- tion and citizenship and in the development of the capacities and legitimacy of state apparatuses to regulate the US population. They are also indispensable for the functioning of the American economy.
KEY WORDS: immigrants, immigration, American nation, American citizenship, racism

ABSTRACT

“If They Did Not Exist They Would Have To Be Invented” – 
The Role of Immigrants and Their Regulation in the American Socio-Political Context

The article explores the multidimensional, heterogeneous and complex role that immigrants and their regulation played and play in the American socio-political context. It argues that immigrants have played and play a crucial role in the establishment and development of the American republic. They were and are crucial for the continuous re-inscriptions of symbolic and material boundaries of the American na- tion and citizenship and in the development of the capacities and legitimacy of state apparatuses to regulate the US population. They are also indispensable for the functioning of the American economy.
KEY WORDS: immigrants, immigration, American nation, American citizenship, racism

ABSTRACT

Beyond a Construction Site, Beyond National Citizenship: The Infrapolitics of Translocal Citizenship

Since the nation-state ceases to exist as the only centre of sovereignty and arena where key political decisions are made, efforts to envisage new forms of citizenship are separating political membership from the nation and constitute it according to entirely new criteria. The article examines the new concept of translocal citizenship that moves away from the nation-state as its territorial reference point, and simultaneously rejects its continuation within some new supranational entity. In the second part, the article reflects on the Beyond a Construction Site project, initiated by the Obrat Culture and Art Association (KUD Obrat), where an unused construction site has been employed as a community garden. The project illustrates translocal citizenship in practice, since the garden is fostering new forms of collective action and new forms of political membership which are better suited to intercultural dialogue and inclusion of migrant communities than are nation-states.

KEY WORDS: citizenship, migration, democracy, urbanism, community gardens

ABSTRACT

Beyond a Construction Site, Beyond National Citizenship: The Infrapolitics of Translocal Citizenship

Since the nation-state ceases to exist as the only centre of sovereignty and arena where key political decisions are made, efforts to envisage new forms of citizenship are separating political membership from the nation and constitute it according to entirely new criteria. The article examines the new concept of translocal citizenship that moves away from the nation-state as its territorial reference point, and simultaneously rejects its continuation within some new supranational entity. In the second part, the article reflects on the Beyond a Construction Site project, initiated by the Obrat Culture and Art Association (KUD Obrat), where an unused construction site has been employed as a community garden. The project illustrates translocal citizenship in practice, since the garden is fostering new forms of collective action and new forms of political membership which are better suited to intercultural dialogue and inclusion of migrant communities than are nation-states.

KEY WORDS: citizenship, migration, democracy, urbanism, community gardens

ABSTRACT

The paper analyzes the function and the role of enumerative practices within European migration policy and practices of managing and regulating borders and (illegal) immigration. By employing enumerative practices, illegal immigrants are constructed and represented as a threat to the European Union and as such empower and legitimize European authorities and contentious mechanisms of controlling and regulating migrations. The paper also shows that enumerative practices are paramount in the process of creating a common European identity because of their role in the formation and articulation of the idea of EU citizenship as a particular value of belonging to the European community.

KEYWORDS: Enumerative practices, EU citizenship, (Im)migration, European migration policy

ABSTRACT

The paper analyzes the function and the role of enumerative practices within European migration policy and practices of managing and regulating borders and (illegal) immigration. By employing enumerative practices, illegal immigrants are constructed and represented as a threat to the European Union and as such empower and legitimize European authorities and contentious mechanisms of controlling and regulating migrations. The paper also shows that enumerative practices are paramount in the process of creating a common European identity because of their role in the formation and articulation of the idea of EU citizenship as a particular value of belonging to the European community.

KEYWORDS: Enumerative practices, EU citizenship, (Im)migration, European migration policy