Migration, Reproduction, and the Demography of Citizenship

The notion of the transnational making of population, empirically identified in light of the Moroccan families’ case study through the previous chapters, will be discussed in this chapter with reference to the Italian background. I argue that this context provides an emblematic window onto contemporary as well as contentious issues of nationality, population, and belonging. Italian society is undergoing significant demographic changes: on the one hand, the widespread decrease in birth rates and extended life expectancies lead to a substantial aging of the population; on the other hand, rising immigration rates constitute an important factor behind the renewal and growth of young population segments—a process that is also driven by the fertility and natality contribution of certain minorities, such as Moroccan communities. However, this population transformation is not embraced by the national boundaries of Italian belonging, as citizenship policies remain strictly fixed on the right of “blood” (“ius sanguinis”). In view of these opposing dynamics, this chapter concludes by framing in terms of demography of citizenship the growing gap between the progressive increase of non-citizen minors and children born to immigrants in Italy, on the one hand, and the available pathways for them to acquire the citizenship in the country where they were raised and educated, on the other hand.