Dual Citizenship Among Diaspora Communities Social Ties or Economic and Political Resources?

Abstract

The new measures that States set up with regard to expatriates and diaspora communities have considerably strengthened the extraterritorial dimension of citizenship. Expatriates have long been transformative actors in their countries of origin: they foment atypical citizenship-granting practices and create renewed identities at home. Moreover, while diasporic States use the rhetoric of engaging the global nation, their policies often target specific populations abroad. Does it depend on what these populations can offer the home State? This also raises the question of how relevant diaspora politics, extraterritorial voting and the extension of citizenship rights beyond the borders of nation-states actually are, and how they can contribute to the ongoing transformation of national citizenship.

Concerning the methodology, this paper will start by analysing the Italian case as an example of atypical granting of citizenship to many emigrants with particular connotations compared to other European countries. In fact, Italy permits natives who settled abroad, as well as persons who were once Italian citizens, residing in the territories that were part of the Italian territory subsequently ceded to the Republic of Yugoslavia, to regain Italian citizenship under certain conditions and, in general, if they are able to attest that none of their direct ancestors unequivocally renounced it. Moving East, this paper will then examine the case of Israel, principally anchored to its Law of Return, which dates back to the period of the idea of exclusive and territorial citizenship, and which still seems to bear witness to a religious heritage. Russian extraterritorial naturalization will conclude the macro-comparison as a way of “creating” new Russian citizens through compulsory “passportization”, which could be an instrument of ambiguous extraterritorial governance. For each of the above-mentioned countries, the paper will examine the normative bases, rules and basic principles, as well as the provisions enacted regulating the granting of citizenship to expatriates. The results will also be interpreted considering the differences in citizenship-granting policies between diaspora communities and other instances.