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Project

Migration and the Politics of Urban Citizenship: a Comparative Analysis of Four Belgian Cities (1974-2012).

This research project analyzes how post-war migrants are conceived as citizens in urban settings. It compares four Belgian cities (Ghent, Antwerp, Liège, Charleroi) over two different time periods (1974-1993; 1993-2012). The first goal of the research is to shed light on the range of prevailing citizenship definitions. Do they conceive citizenship as a formal status, with substantive entitlements attached to it, or is citizenship more commonly conceived as a practice, which takes form through participation and identification with the urban community? And, does the construction of urban citizenship arise from a culturalist, socio-economic or securitized inspiration? Secondly, the research explores who is responsible for circulating citizenship definitions. Do urban politicians and migrant organizations set the tone, or are intermediate urban state agencies like public welfare centers andpolice forces the prevailing voices? And, to what extent do regional conceptions of citizenship influence urban debates and practices? The research innovatively brings together
Date:1 Oct 2012 →  30 Sep 2014
Keywords:CITIZENSHIP, MIGRATION, URBAN POLITICS
Disciplines:Applied sociology, Policy and administration, Social psychology, Social stratification, Social theory and sociological methods, Sociology of life course, family and health, Other sociology and anthropology