Globalization and Citizenship

This lively and invigorating book explores the complex relationship between globalization and citizenship. From Cairo to Beijing, campaigns for civil rights and democracy around the world are intensifying and speeding up in the digital media age, and public recognition of global interdependence continues to rise. At the same time, many national governments are tightening border controls and further limiting access to citizenship in a climate of high public anxiety and economic uncertainty. Although globalization continues to open up many new opportunities for citizens to enter the international arena and make their voices heard, as Hans Schattle shows, the institution of national citizenship remains highly resilient and often more restrictive. Providing fresh insights on the meaning of citizenship in a global age, Schattle highlights such extraordinary events as the '¬SArab Spring'¬ revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East, the global debate over the role and tactics of WikiLeaks, the awarding of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, the growing reach of European Union citizenship alongside crackdowns across the continent targeting immigrants and ethnic and cultural minority groups, and recent political controversies in the United States over citizenship and immigration.