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Trans-municipal citizenship? Rethinking transnational citizenship from the sea to the city
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2022-09
Author(s)
Abstract (De)
This paper contributes to the ongoing scholarly debate on how citizenship may be enacted beyond the borders of nation-states. The paper argues that the sea and the city may be productive conceptual sites from which to re-consider how transnational citizenship may be imagined and enacted.
Theoretically, the paper builds on Isin’s work on acts of citizenship (2008, 2009) and the idea of traversal citizenship or citizenship without frontiers (2012) in particular. The paper also engages with recent research on citizenship enacted at sea, namely the case of civic sea rescue in the Mediterranean (Stierl, 2016, 2018; Tazzioli, 2018). Empirically, the paper draws on data gathered during a four-years-long engaged ethnographic research project conducted in collaboration with the transnational civil society organisation European Alternatives at the department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. I focus, in particular, on the campaign “From the sea to the city” which emerged in the aftermath of Europe’s so-called “refugee crisis” and which points to the potential of cities and municipalities for the enactment of transnational citizenship.
As the paper demonstrates, the campaign works against ‘Fortress Europe’ and towards a more progressive European refugee politics through the forging of trans-municipal connections. The paper argues that citizenship is expressed, here, both below and beyond the borders of nation-states in two ways: firstly, by re-imagining citizenship from the transnational territory of the Mediterranean Sea; and secondly, by enacting citizenship through trans-municipal networks, from which more progressive, trans-European policies may emerge.
Theoretically, the paper builds on Isin’s work on acts of citizenship (2008, 2009) and the idea of traversal citizenship or citizenship without frontiers (2012) in particular. The paper also engages with recent research on citizenship enacted at sea, namely the case of civic sea rescue in the Mediterranean (Stierl, 2016, 2018; Tazzioli, 2018). Empirically, the paper draws on data gathered during a four-years-long engaged ethnographic research project conducted in collaboration with the transnational civil society organisation European Alternatives at the department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. I focus, in particular, on the campaign “From the sea to the city” which emerged in the aftermath of Europe’s so-called “refugee crisis” and which points to the potential of cities and municipalities for the enactment of transnational citizenship.
As the paper demonstrates, the campaign works against ‘Fortress Europe’ and towards a more progressive European refugee politics through the forging of trans-municipal connections. The paper argues that citizenship is expressed, here, both below and beyond the borders of nation-states in two ways: firstly, by re-imagining citizenship from the transnational territory of the Mediterranean Sea; and secondly, by enacting citizenship through trans-municipal networks, from which more progressive, trans-European policies may emerge.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Event Title
EISA 15th Pan-European Conference on International Relations
Event Location
Panteion University Athens
Event Date
01.-05.09.2022
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
267621