Citizenship: Theories and Policies

Language of Instruction

English

Pre-requirements

Fulfilment of general admission requirements.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the course the student should be able to:

- Analyze different ways in which legal, political, and social rights are distributed in an age where the nation state is being challenged by internal pluralism, regional integration, increased mobility, and migration.

- Master the conceptual apparatus needed to comprehend and to argue about these issues and also, through empirical evidences, discuss how various states have differential understanding of citizenship and how this dramatically affects how political institutions are organized.

- Engage in an open debate, both with fellow students and lecturers, about the fascinating issues related to citizenship.

Contact Information

studieveileder@sampol.uib.no/55583316

Course offered (semester)

Autumn

Exam offered (semester)

Autumn

Language of Instruction

English

Course Unit Level

Bachelor

Access to the Course Unit

The course is open for students at the University of Bergen who fullfil the general admission requirements.

Aim and Content

The course aims to examine the concept of citizenship as an empirical phenomenon, as a political construct, and as a theoretical category. In particular, we address three important aspects of the concept: (a) the development of citizenship, (b) the tension between the notions of formal citizenship and citizenship as shared identity, and (c) the extension of citizenship rights to new groups, including non-citizens.

In the first part, we pay attention to the idea that development of citizenship is an expansion of first civil rights, then political rights (expression of political agency), and finally social rights (welfare rights). We link this stepwise model further to the different trajectories of state and nation building. 28  

In the second part, we move attention towards the dilemma of formal citizenship (nationality) and citizenship as shared identity. This is related with internal diversity among people who are already citizens ¿ that is the rights of native and naturalized immigrant minorities versus majorities, as well as differences with respect to gender and sexuality. Such internal plurality gives rise to moral dilemmas: Equal rights, for example, can imply that majority perspectives are imposed upon minorities. If this is undesirable, how should we understand the relation between citizenship and nationality; e.g. should the associated rights and obligations still be difference-blind, or must we recognize that equal respect often necessitates differential treatment and that minorities sometimes must be given special recognition?

The extent to which citizenship rights should be granted non-citizens is the subject of the last part of the course. It has traditionally been taken for granted that the necessary framework for citizenship is the sovereign, territorial state. However, this assumption is now being challenged by the increase in globalization, such as increasing international trade, the supranational citizenship of the European Union, as well as high levels of migration. Must we re-think the concept of citizenship as a result of this, e.g. does mounting globalization create social obligations towards non-citizens? Does the political community have the moral right to decide who can and cannot become a citizen or must we rather recognize the right to free movement? Should labour immigrants be given the same social security and welfare rights as the native population?

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the course the student should be able to:

- Analyze different ways in which legal, political, and social rights are distributed in an age where the nation state is being challenged by internal pluralism, regional integration, increased mobility, and migration.

- Master the conceptual apparatus needed to comprehend and to argue about these issues and also, through empirical evidences, discuss how various states have differential understanding of citizenship and how this dramatically affects how political institutions are organized.

- Engage in an open debate, both with fellow students and lecturers, about the fascinating issues related to citizenship.

Pre-requirements

Fulfilment of general admission requirements.

Recommended previous knowledge

SAMPOL115 and SAMPOL110/SAMPOL105, SAMPOL106 & SAMPOL107

Teaching Methods

Form: Lectures and Seminars 29

Hours per week: 4

Number of weeks: 8

Total number of hours: 24

Compulsory Requirements

Group presentation of an article or a research issue.

Assessment methods

Desk exam: 6 hours written exam

Grading Scale

Grading: A-F

Course Unit Evaluation

Regularly

Contact Information

studieveileder@sampol.uib.no/55583316