Conceptualisations of Transnational Citizenship

Transnational citizenship is a concept that has gained ground in and beyond different disciplines, proving that it is a useful instrument in describing a relevant phenomenon in the society. Yet, its conceptualisations vary from rigorous in-depth theorisation (e.g. Bauböck, Transnational Citizenship: Membership and Rights in International Migration, 1995) to accounts that do not elaborate on the concept at all (e.g. Balibar We, the people of Europe: Reflections on Transnational Citizenship, 2004). Yet, social sciences – and qualitative research in particular – regards conceptualisation as highly influential in the research process (Goertz Social Science Concepts: A Users Guide, 2005). The paper analyses how is transnational citizenship conceptualised in scholarly literature by distinguishing between five key approaches: transnational citizenship (1) as a regulatory regime, (2) as practice, (3) as an arena, (4) as a normative and (5) as an analytical and multidimensional concept. The paper will demonstrate how these approaches help to distinguish transnational citizenship from other postnational forms of citizenship.