Joseph Carens
Encyclopedia
Joseph H. Carens is a professor
at the Department of Political Science
of the University of Toronto
, Canada
. His research interests are mainly focused on contemporary political theory, especially on issues related to immigration
and political community. He is author of numerous books and articles, is married to Jennifer Nedelsky, and has two children.
, an M.Phil and Ph.D.
in political science and an M.Phil in religious studies from Yale University
. Before moving to the University of Toronto, he taught at North Carolina State University
, Lake Forest College
, Wesleyan University
, and Princeton University
.
in his book Culture, Citizenship, and Community. A Contextual Exploration of Justice as Evenhandedness; a legal, psychological and political dimension. The legal dimension refers to the formal rights and duties to the political community to which one belongs, the psychological dimension refers to one’s identification with the political community to which one belongs, the political dimension refers to one’s sense of the representational legitimacy of those who act authoritatively on behalf of and in the name of the political community.
Nowadays, lots of people migrate; this has resulted in millions of people with a dual citizenship. In the Netherlands alone there are 1 million citizens with a dual nationality, this is 1 in every 16 citizens.
One of the reasons for this worldwide increase in dual citizenships is the gradual elimination of gender bias in laws regarding citizenship
. These laws used to say that a child would gain the citizenship status of the father of the child. Now this has changed and if the parents of a child both have different citizenships the child will acquire both.
Another reason can be found in states where citizenship is determined by place of birth; i.e., United States
, the Netherlands and Canada
. If a child is born in The Netherlands for example they will gain the Dutch citizenship, if both parents are from another state like Morocco
and Turkey
, this would mean the child acquires three different citizenships.
A third reason can be found in the legal laws regarding immigration. Some states such as Australia
and Canada do not require immigrants to renounce their previous citizenship as a condition of naturalisation. This means that immigrants who want to obtain the Australian citizenship can keep the citizenship of the state they were born in. In The Netherlands this is not the case, since 1997 immigrants who want to naturalize are not allowed to keep their former citizenship. Exceptions in this law made it possible for about half a million people to acquire dual citizenship since then. Among these exceptions are when the home state of the immigrant does now allow people to give up their nationality (for example Morocco), or when the immigrant is married to a Dutch citizen.
There are a lot of objections against dual citizenship; some are based on the following questions that come to mind. If people hold more than one citizenship, which state is responsible? Are dual citizens subject to two conflicting sets of laws (i.e., marriage and divorce laws) and obligations (i.e., taxes and military duty)? Usually these problems are easily solved. In most cases the laws and obligations of the state in which the person lives need to be followed.
More objections against dual citizenship are links between legal status and democratic legitimacy. If a person has a dual citizenship, does that mean that he or she can have a say in the government of both states by voting in each state’s elections? If a people vote in a state where they don’t live in, doesn’t that violate democratic norms to help select a governmental policy that they will not be subject to?
In short, there is a conflict between these rising questions and objections on one hand, and on the other hand the positive sides of dual citizenship. Dual citizenship enables people who have substantial ties to more than one political community because of; their residence, place of birth, family ties to protect their vital human interests in each of them.
There is also a different kind of citizenship; within states. In Belgium and Canada for example there are two political communities (in the example of Belgium
there is Flanders
and Wallonia). In a federal system
like this, everyone belongs to two political communities, the jurisdiction
and sovereignty
of these political communities is limited and intertwined with each other. These units within a federal system are significant political communities and are an important form of citizenship. These forms of citizenship change overtime however. In the United States for example, there were political communities in the 18th and 19th century that rivalled with the federal government of the United States
in their significance for the identities of many of their citizens. Today these political communities no longer exist in the United States, but they can still be found in other states like Spain
for example.
The arise of the European Union
(EU) and European citizenship raises the question whether this form of citizenship is of any significance. On one hand we see that all individuals that are part of the EU are part of the citizenship of their own state and that the overreaching unit seems of little importance. On the other hand we see that European citizens can use European courts
and legal rights. This means that on legal grounds we have to think of the EU as a base for a citizenship.
There is a conventional view that says that one’s primary political identity is derived from the membership in a state. From this view there are also opposing arguments against dual citizenship. People with a dual citizenship are very likely to have multiple loyalties, identities and attachments. This makes one wonder which political community would get their primary commitment in a case of conflict.
It is not always the case that a person’s emotional attachment, loyalty and identity is linked to their legal status. There are many examples which prove the opposite. Carens describes in his book a Canadian law
called the Indian Act
. This law says that if an Indian woman marries a man who does not have the legal status of an Indian
, the woman loses her Indian status. Many women may have lost their legal standing
as a member of the political community, but this does not mean that these women no longer had a sense of identification with this community and that they all of a sudden felt a strong identification with the community they were legally forced to join.
This is also often seen in the situation of immigrants, they often feel a strong connection with the country that they originally came from than with the country they moved to, even though they may have legal status there.
People who feel alienated from and hostile towards the political community they legally belong to, are often people who feel like they are not treated equally. For example people could feel they are treated as less because of their race, or their religion. In The Netherlands there are a lot of Christian holidays such as Easter
and Christmas
, yet not a single Islamic celebration day is recognised as national holidays. Policies like this can be experienced as forms of inequity and exclusion.
Generally speaking the nation state and its sovereignty is seen as the most important political community for a citizenship. Other forms of political community: internal (i.e., provinces) and external (i.e., EU) are seen as legally and psychologically subordinate. This is not always the case however in the minds of people. Francophone
Québécois
have a stronger tendency towards their Québécois citizenship than towards their Canadian citizenship
.
against elected officials. There are also problems of legitimacy if important decisions are made by institutions that are not subject to elections and democratic control such as the World Bank
and the International Monetary Fund
.
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at the Department of Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
of the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. His research interests are mainly focused on contemporary political theory, especially on issues related to immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
and political community. He is author of numerous books and articles, is married to Jennifer Nedelsky, and has two children.
Education and career
Carens received his A.B. in philosophy from the College of the Holy CrossCollege of the Holy Cross
The College of the Holy Cross is an undergraduate Roman Catholic liberal arts college located in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA...
, an M.Phil and Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in political science and an M.Phil in religious studies from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. Before moving to the University of Toronto, he taught at North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
, Lake Forest College
Lake Forest College
Lake Forest College, founded in 1857, is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. The college has 1,500 students representing 47 states and 78 countries....
, Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
, and Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
Citizenship
Joseph Carens distinguishes three dimensions of citizenshipCitizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
in his book Culture, Citizenship, and Community. A Contextual Exploration of Justice as Evenhandedness; a legal, psychological and political dimension. The legal dimension refers to the formal rights and duties to the political community to which one belongs, the psychological dimension refers to one’s identification with the political community to which one belongs, the political dimension refers to one’s sense of the representational legitimacy of those who act authoritatively on behalf of and in the name of the political community.
Legal dimension
The easiest model of citizenship is the unitary model, in this model the nation state is the same as the political community. In this model the nation state prescribes the legal status of every individual living in it. Unfortunately this unitary model fails to capture the reality of the modern world.Nowadays, lots of people migrate; this has resulted in millions of people with a dual citizenship. In the Netherlands alone there are 1 million citizens with a dual nationality, this is 1 in every 16 citizens.
One of the reasons for this worldwide increase in dual citizenships is the gradual elimination of gender bias in laws regarding citizenship
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
. These laws used to say that a child would gain the citizenship status of the father of the child. Now this has changed and if the parents of a child both have different citizenships the child will acquire both.
Another reason can be found in states where citizenship is determined by place of birth; i.e., United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the Netherlands and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. If a child is born in The Netherlands for example they will gain the Dutch citizenship, if both parents are from another state like Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, this would mean the child acquires three different citizenships.
A third reason can be found in the legal laws regarding immigration. Some states such as Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Canada do not require immigrants to renounce their previous citizenship as a condition of naturalisation. This means that immigrants who want to obtain the Australian citizenship can keep the citizenship of the state they were born in. In The Netherlands this is not the case, since 1997 immigrants who want to naturalize are not allowed to keep their former citizenship. Exceptions in this law made it possible for about half a million people to acquire dual citizenship since then. Among these exceptions are when the home state of the immigrant does now allow people to give up their nationality (for example Morocco), or when the immigrant is married to a Dutch citizen.
There are a lot of objections against dual citizenship; some are based on the following questions that come to mind. If people hold more than one citizenship, which state is responsible? Are dual citizens subject to two conflicting sets of laws (i.e., marriage and divorce laws) and obligations (i.e., taxes and military duty)? Usually these problems are easily solved. In most cases the laws and obligations of the state in which the person lives need to be followed.
More objections against dual citizenship are links between legal status and democratic legitimacy. If a person has a dual citizenship, does that mean that he or she can have a say in the government of both states by voting in each state’s elections? If a people vote in a state where they don’t live in, doesn’t that violate democratic norms to help select a governmental policy that they will not be subject to?
In short, there is a conflict between these rising questions and objections on one hand, and on the other hand the positive sides of dual citizenship. Dual citizenship enables people who have substantial ties to more than one political community because of; their residence, place of birth, family ties to protect their vital human interests in each of them.
There is also a different kind of citizenship; within states. In Belgium and Canada for example there are two political communities (in the example of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
there is Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
and Wallonia). In a federal system
Federalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...
like this, everyone belongs to two political communities, the jurisdiction
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
and sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
of these political communities is limited and intertwined with each other. These units within a federal system are significant political communities and are an important form of citizenship. These forms of citizenship change overtime however. In the United States for example, there were political communities in the 18th and 19th century that rivalled with the federal government of the United States
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
in their significance for the identities of many of their citizens. Today these political communities no longer exist in the United States, but they can still be found in other states like Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
for example.
The arise of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
(EU) and European citizenship raises the question whether this form of citizenship is of any significance. On one hand we see that all individuals that are part of the EU are part of the citizenship of their own state and that the overreaching unit seems of little importance. On the other hand we see that European citizens can use European courts
European Court of Justice
The Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...
and legal rights. This means that on legal grounds we have to think of the EU as a base for a citizenship.
Psychological dimension
Another way to belong to a political community, other than on legal grounds is to have the feeling that one belongs and is connected with it. This dimension that Carens describes is based on one’s sense of emotional attachment, loyalty and identification. There is a natural link between the legal and psychological dimensions, people generally have a strong identification and feeling of connection with the political community of which they possess legal citizenship.There is a conventional view that says that one’s primary political identity is derived from the membership in a state. From this view there are also opposing arguments against dual citizenship. People with a dual citizenship are very likely to have multiple loyalties, identities and attachments. This makes one wonder which political community would get their primary commitment in a case of conflict.
It is not always the case that a person’s emotional attachment, loyalty and identity is linked to their legal status. There are many examples which prove the opposite. Carens describes in his book a Canadian law
Law of Canada
The Canadian legal system has its foundation in the British common law system, inherited from being a former colony of the United Kingdom and later a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Quebec, however, still retains a civil system for issues of private law...
called the Indian Act
Indian Act
The Indian Act , R.S., 1951, c. I-5, is a Canadian statute that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves...
. This law says that if an Indian woman marries a man who does not have the legal status of an Indian
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
, the woman loses her Indian status. Many women may have lost their legal standing
Standing (law)
In law, standing or locus standi is the term for the ability of a party to demonstrate to the court sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action challenged to support that party's participation in the case...
as a member of the political community, but this does not mean that these women no longer had a sense of identification with this community and that they all of a sudden felt a strong identification with the community they were legally forced to join.
This is also often seen in the situation of immigrants, they often feel a strong connection with the country that they originally came from than with the country they moved to, even though they may have legal status there.
People who feel alienated from and hostile towards the political community they legally belong to, are often people who feel like they are not treated equally. For example people could feel they are treated as less because of their race, or their religion. In The Netherlands there are a lot of Christian holidays such as Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
and Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
, yet not a single Islamic celebration day is recognised as national holidays. Policies like this can be experienced as forms of inequity and exclusion.
Generally speaking the nation state and its sovereignty is seen as the most important political community for a citizenship. Other forms of political community: internal (i.e., provinces) and external (i.e., EU) are seen as legally and psychologically subordinate. This is not always the case however in the minds of people. Francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
Québécois
French-speaking Quebecer
French-speaking Quebecers are francophone residents of the Canadian province of Quebec....
have a stronger tendency towards their Québécois citizenship than towards their Canadian citizenship
Canadian nationality law
Canadian citizenship is typically obtained by birth in Canada, birth abroad when at least one parent is a Canadian citizen and was born or naturalized in Canada, or by adoption abroad by at least one Canadian citizen. It can also be granted to a permanent resident who lives in Canada for three out...
.
Political dimension
The political dimension refers to one’s sense of the representational legitimacy of those who act authoritatively on behalf of and in the name of the political community. In the conventional view representational legitimacy depends on being selected by voters in fair and free elections. There are a few problems however regarding elected officials; the relation between the elected officials and the people who voted against them, the alienated or apathetic votes and the scepticismSkepticism
Skepticism has many definitions, but generally refers to any questioning attitude towards knowledge, facts, or opinions/beliefs stated as facts, or doubt regarding claims that are taken for granted elsewhere...
against elected officials. There are also problems of legitimacy if important decisions are made by institutions that are not subject to elections and democratic control such as the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
and the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
.
Partial bibliography
- Immigrants and the Right to Stay (Boston Review/MIT, forthcoming 2010)
- Culture, Citizenship, and Community: A Contextual Exploration of Justice as Evenhandedness (Oxford, 2000)
- Equality, Moral Incentives, and the Market: An Essay in Utopian Politico-Economic Theory (Chicago, 1981)
- Democracy and Possessive Individualism: The Intellectual Legacy of C.B. Macpherson (Editor) (SUNY Press, 1993)
- Is Quebec NationalismQuebec nationalismQuebec nationalism is a nationalist movement in the Canadian province of Quebec .-1534–1774:Canada was first a french colony. Jacques Cartier claimed it for France in 1534, and permanent French settlement began in 1608. It was part of New France, which constituted all French colonies in North America...
Just? Perspectives from Anglophone Canada (Editor) (McGill-Queen's University Press, 1995)
Further reading
- Carens (2000), Culture, Citizenship and Community, A Contextual Exploration of Justice as Evenhandedness, Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
Inc, New York - Elsevier (2006), Miljoen Nederlanders met dubbele nationaliteit, http://www.elsevier.nl/nieuws/nederland/artikel/asp/artnr/125560/rss/true/index.html
- Elsevier (2006), Minder naturalisaties, meer dubbele paspoorten, http://www.elsevier.nl/nieuws/nederland/artikel/asp/artnr/74383/index.html