Transnational Citizenship Constellations

This chapter traces citizenship constellation effects through policy developments in three very different ‘transnational’ political communities. The first section discusses the development of British citizenship law as an example of how colonial legacies have a lasting influence on ideas of nationhood. The second section discusses the legal framework of EU citizenship as a supranational constellation. The final section explores ethnic extraterritorial citizenship in the context of the Hungarian-Romanian citizenship constellation. These three cases of intersecting ‘transnational citizenship constellations’ mark out the historical, legal and political context that shapes the citizenship opportunity structures of those migrants whose mobility experiences will be explored in later chapters.