Dual Nationals: Transcending, Deconstructing or Denationalizing Citizenship?

The new regulations towards a more open access to naturalization have allowed to many immigrants and their descendants the possibility to become dual citizens. Dual citizenship seems to redefine the typical and, until recently, exclusive link between the individual and the nation-state because it presupposes two potentially overlapping memberships in two different political communities. Opponents of dual citizenship denounce double membership as a threat to societal solidarity and reciprocity among citizens, which may even threaten state security. However, such discussions lack empirical support. Observational data has shown that cases devoid of theory create a distance that needs to be reconciled (Sassen, 2002:15). Dual citizenship is an interesting case to illustrate the postnational, transnational and cosmopolitan logics that have been associated to the new modes of citizenship that transcends the nation-state. This study illustrates these debates by analyzing experiences of dual citizens living in Sweden. The aim is to analyze dual citizens’ attitudes and practices towards, across and over the states to which they legally belong. The empirical results are later extrapolated to a discussion about the traditional versus the new modes of citizenship. A second aim is to understand the consequences of “sharing” citizens among states, and how the conflicts associated to dual citizenship – like military service – are solved through bilateral and multilateral agreements. The empirical material is based on 45 interviews to individuals holding Swedish and Iranian, Turkish or Chilean citizenship as well as the diplomatic representations of these countries in Sweden. The results suggest a denationalized relationship with the state in terms of political identity and sense of belonging. However, political participation differs among individuals being the older generations between a traditional and a more transnational participation while younger dual citizens are more entangled in a cosmopolitan logic.