Global Networks
Volume 10, Issue 3, 2010, Pages 344-364

The multiplicity of citizenship: Transnational and local practices and identifications of middle-class migrants (Article)

Van Bochove M.* , Rusinovic K. , Engbersen G.
  • a Department of Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, Netherlands
  • b Department of Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, Netherlands
  • c Department of Sociology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, Netherlands

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. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd & Global Networks Partnership.

Author Keywords

identification Political Participation Local citizenship Immigrant middle class Transnational citizenship The Netherlands

Index Keywords

Netherlands immigrant political process identification method political participation Middle class Spheres South Holland Rotterdam citizenship local participation internal migration
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-77953179572&doi=10.1111%2fj.1471-0374.2010.00292.x&partnerID=40&md5=3ee677f34ef70791f556d8d84147a9e7
DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0374.2010.00292.x
ISSN: 14702266
Cited by: 16
Original Language: English