In an age of globalization there is frequent migration across national borders, resulting in a reconsideration of the notion, practice and social institution of national citizenship. Addressing this phenomenon, the book focuses on the exchange between, and responses, of Korea and Germany. In particular, the book deals extensively with citizenship in Korea where the concept of citizenship is young, and thus the study of citizenship is relatively scarce. This book may be the first of its kind, bringing together eminent Korean and German scholars to analyse various aspects of citizenship in Korea. It is hoped that it will contribute to scholarship in the fields of citizenship and migration and to an understanding of the flow of people and ideas between Asia and Europe.

This book argues that basing citizenship on singular and individual membership in a nation-state is no longer adequate, since the nation-state model itself is being severely eroded. It examines issues of citizenship and difference in the Asia-Pacific region.

Any consideration of global migration in relation to work and citizenship must necessarily be situated in the context of the Great Recession. A whole historical chapter – that of neoliberalism – has now closed and the future can only be deemed uncertain. Migrant workers were key players during this phase of the global system, supplying cheap and flexible labour inputs when required in the rich countries. Now, with the further sustainability of the neoliberal political and economic world order in question, what will be the role of migration in terms of work patterns and what modalities of political citizenship will develop? While informalization of the relations of production and the precarization of work were once assumed to be the exception, that is no longer the case. As for citizenship this book posits a parallel development of precarious citizenship for migrants, made increasingly vulnerable by the global economic crisis. But we are also in an era of profound social transformation, in the context of which social counter-movements emerge, which may halt the disembedding of the market from social control and its corrosive impact. This book was published as a special issue of Globalizations.

Publisher Description

This work offers a timely philosophical analysis of interrelated normative questions concerning immigration and citizenship in relation to the global context of multiple nation states. In it, philosophers and scholars from the social sciences address both fundamental questions in moral and political philosophy as well as specific issues concerning policy. Topics covered in this volume include: the concept and the role of citizenship, the equal rights and representation of citizens, general moral frameworks for addressing immigration issues, the duty to obey immigration law, the use of ethnic, cultural, or linguistic criteria for selective immigration, domestic violence as grounds for political asylum, and our duty to refugees in general. The urgency of the need to discuss these matters is clear. Several humanitarian crises involving human migration across national boundaries stemming from war, economic devastations, gang violence, and violence in ethnic or religious conflicts have unfolded. Political debates concerning immigration and immigrant communities are continuing in many countries, especially during election years. While there have always been migrating human beings, they raise distinctive issues in the modern era because of the political context under which the migrations take place, namely, that of a system of sovereign nation states with rights to control their borders and determine their memberships. This collection provides readers the opportunity to parse these complex issues with the help of diverse philosophical, moral, and political perspectives.

This lively and invigorating book explores the complex ways that globalization has profoundly affected the once-static nationally defined boundaries of citizenship. From Cairo to Beijing, campaigns for civil rights and democracy around the world are intensifying and speeding up in the digital media age, and public recognition of global interdependence continues to rise. At the same time, many national governments are tightening border controls and further limiting access to citizenship in a climate of high public anxiety and economic uncertainty. Hans Schattle explores the roles of numerous social movements and advocacy groups at the heart of recent events such as the "Arab Spring" revolutions, the global contestation on the role and tactics of WikiLeaks, the controversy over the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize award to Chinese political dissident Liu Xiaobo, and the heated debates on immigration and multiculturalism in Europe and the United States. Although globalization continues to open up many new opportunities for citizens to enter the international arena and make their voices heard, as Schattle shows, the institution of national citizenship remains highly resilient.