Nationality, citizenship and ethno-cultural belonging : preferential membership policies in Europe

Abstract

This book investigates the legal rules of acquisition and loss of citizenship in Europe. Challenging mainstream arguments about the de-ethnicization of citizenship in Europe, Dumbrava identifies and analyses citizenship regulations that differentiate people on ethno-cultural grounds. Providing a unique comparative analysis of citizenship laws in thirty eight European countries, this book assesses major justifications for ethno-cultural rules of citizenship. From general legal and normative principles to more specific and contextual justifications, Dumbrava builds a normative framework for analyzing membership of a liberal democratic state. By disentangling the unitary model of national citizenship that bundles together legal, political, and identity memberships, Citizenship, Nationality and Ethno-Cultural Membership aims to reconcile competing principles of membership and define a more robust set of citizenship regulations.