Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Germany

by Brubaker

The difference between French and German definitions of citizenship is instructive―and, for millions of immigrants from North Africa, Turkey, and Eastern Europe, decisive. Rogers Brubaker shows how this difference―between the territorial basis of the French citizenry and the German emphasis on blood descent―was shaped and sustained by sharply differing understandings of nationhood, rooted in distinctive French and German paths to nation-statehood.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, France, Sociology, Academic

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 1992

Reviews

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so smart but so repetitive, like being in a room who cannot be concise to save their life

[Paul Vant · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Because this way of thinking remains widely influential, debates about the citizenship status of immigrants remain in large part debates about nationhood - about what it means, and what it ought to mean, to belong to a nation-state."

[Jonathan Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book presents a convincing argument about the intersection of nation and citizenship. But it should really be an essay as the book spends large amounts of time repeating itself

[Dani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rogers Brubaker examines the bounds of citizenship in France and Germany. He argues that French citizenry was defined expansively, as a territorial community, while Germany citizenry was defined as a community of descent. He explains how the historic notion of citizenship - especially the differences between jus soli and jus sanguinis - affected the assimilation of second (third and fourth) generation immigrants living in the two countries during the 1980s.

Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Germany presents a reasonable schematic approach to the nature of belonging to a country and, in that, it should be commended. However, the book bases most of the pre-1871 German case on looking at Prussian citizenship, and Brubaker leaves out any talk on the role of cultural nationalism.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good and informative book that could have been shorter.