Model citizens?

A new book on the emerging field of Citizenship Studies says the plural nationalities characteristic of the 21st century are forcing a revision of the notion of citizenship, and European nations and Japan are looking to multinational societies like Canada and Australia for new state practices.

The Handbook of Citizenship Studies

(Sage, UK, 2002), edited by York University Professor Engin F. Isin, and University of Cambridge Professor Bryan S. Turner, is the first volume in the field that pulls together the range of scholarly work on new social claims for rights and recognition under the rubric “citizenship studies”.

“There is certainly a significant change taking place,” state the editors, noting that it is now widely accepted that countries have to accommodate some form of “differentiated citizenship”, because the modern liberal idea of citizenship born of the nation-state is inadequate.

For more details on the book read the recent news release: http://www.yorku.ca/ycom/release/archive/100402.htm.