What is Citizenship for?
Citizenships and Naturalization in Latvia
Citizenship is considered a core ingredient of democracy and provides an indeed valuable status: Having citizenship means, amongst other things, having the right to vote, belonging to a state and being able to show a passport when crossing a border. What happens, though, when citizenship is not a given but an option? After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a sizeable part of Latvia’s population was left without citizenship. Their willingness to naturalize has been lower than expected – a situation that challenges our understanding of citizenship as a desirable status.°°°°What makes citizenship attractive for people? Why does the state want to have citizens and not only residents? Conceiving citizenship as a relation between an individual and a particular state, this book addresses different dimensions of citizenship. Firmly rooted in citizenship theory, the author presents answers to the question “What is citizenship for?” and provides a nuanced analysis of the development of Latvian citizenship policies.°°
| Series | The Baltic Sea Region |
|---|---|
| Volume | 16 |
| ISBN | 978-3-8305-3595-9 |
| Media type | Book - Paperback |
| Edition number | 1. |
| Copyright year | 2017 |
| Publisher | Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag |
| Length | 218 pages |
| Illustrations | 5 b/w figs. |
| Size | 15.3 x 22.7 cm |
| Language | English |
