Page 191 - Contemporary Political Sociology Globalization Politics and Power

Citizenship 177

It is a unique supranational institution, which shares sovereignty with
member states. It is in this respect that (as we noted in chapter 2 ), Europe

is sometimes seen as prefiguring the political institutions of a more cos-
mopolitan world. Unless the problem of Europe ’ s “ democratic defi cit ”

can be solved, however, it is rather a tarnished flagship for cosmopolitan
democracy.
Possibly the most far - reaching vision of citizenship is raised by the
environmental movement. Global citizenship may not seem the obvious
way to develop environmental politics, with its focus on rights for human
beings. Although rights always entail obligations, discussions of environ-
mental citizenship are unusual in giving more weight to obligations than
rights. It has in common with other discussions of citizenship raised by
global social movements, however, an emphasis on the importance and
value of public goods – the environment itself being chief amongst them,
and questions of global justice are similarly to the fore in models of citi-
zenship developed by environmentalists.

Migration and rights across borders

Section 4.4 of this chapter, on citizenship, racialization, and ethnicity, was
concerned with settled populations in Western states. Until the 1980s,
there was a general belief amongst sociologists and others that mass
migrations had ended, and debates over citizenship rights in relation to
discrimination, racism, and multiculturalism took place on the basis of
this assumption. In fact, while immigration into the US was restricted
from the 1920s, and European countries ended systematic labor migration
from the mid - 1970s, migration continued in other forms. There were the
families of migrant workers who were granted rights of settlement on the
grounds of “ family reunion. ” This form of migration was particularly
important in European countries like Germany with its “ guest - worker ”
system. In the US, it actually led to an increase in immigration in the
1960s and 1970s, and it also meant more visible immigration with the
entry of Asians and Latin Americans rather than the Europeans who had
previously made up the majority of migrants. There was also a signifi cant
migration of managerial, professional, technical, and scientifi c workers
who moved between advanced capitalist countries. These privileged
workers are usually ignored in discussions of migration.
Since the late 1980s, there has been political alarm in all Western
countries about illegal immigration and asylum - seekers, because they are
understood to threaten nation - states ’ control of their borders. These
migrants are also, no doubt, seen as particularly problematic because they