In: Citizenship as a Challenge
Search for other papers by S. Ram Vemuri in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Abstract
Global migration data suggests that one in five people currently live in a place other than that of their birth. In addition, naturalisation data reveals that many are becoming citizens of the ‘adopted’ countries. There is also evidence that many naturalised citizens are becoming return migrants. This has resulted in shopping for citizenship where one is pursuing choices to achieve best returns. In recent times, more individuals are exercising citizenship choices – choices of where to belong – more than ever before resulting in a fluid nature of the ebb and flow of citizenship. This type of development is impacting many areas of the modern state, raising real concerns about where individual allegiances lie. Against such a backdrop, this chapter examines the roles and responsibilities of citizenship. The chapter suggests the importance of recognising the existence of silence in the discourse on citizenship. The chapter calls for a simultaneous examination of the impacts of silence as well as the influence of unconscious bias in contemporary citizenship discussion.