Making a Case for Citizenship
A Strozier Faculty Lecture Series conversation with Dr. Maureen Stobb and Dr. Jamie Scalera Elliott
To be a citizen is to be “a participatory member of a political community” (per Grolier’s New Book of Knowledge), with certain rights, protections, and obligations. In practice, distinguishing citizens from non-citizens is a difficult and highly contentious task — especially in a global, mobile world and within supranational frameworks like the European Union. Who defines citizenship? Who should? Drs. Maureen Stobb and Jamie Scalera Elliott, associate professors of Political Science and International Studies at Georgia Southern University, examine this question as a part of their recent Robert I. Strozier Faculty Lecture and have found that, when the political realm renounces the task, the courts step in. They join Leigh this week for a follow-up conversation.
(Photo © FreeImages/Zumberto _)
To skip the intro, fast forward to the 2:24 mark.
- Part of the Robert I. Strozier Faculty Lecture Series
- “A Crisis of Citizenship: What is the Court’s Role in Solving Europe’s Socio-Political Dilemma?”
- Maureen Stobb and Jamie Scalera Elliott
- Abstract Citizenship is a highly contentious issue across the globe: who “belongs”, what rights do citizens vs non-citizens possess, and what obligations are required of citizens. This is particularly true in the European Union, where integration prompted a reconceptualization of citizenship that rests in the tension between the national and the supranational. We argue that, when the political arena fails to offer answers to these questions, the courts have stepped in. We investigate the strategies employed by the EU courts to navigate the complex area of citizenship.
