Migrant Aspirations and New Models of Citizenship: A Workshop, 20 February 2025, University of Glasgow, Scotland
By Dr Susan Rottmann and Prof Michael J. Geary
Migrant aspirations in Europe are increasingly shaping new models of citizenship, as
individuals seek not only economic stability but also political and social inclusion. Traditional notions of citizenship based on nationality are evolving to accommodate transnational identities, dual allegiances, and the push for more inclusive rights frameworks. Migrants aspire to full participation in their host societies, demanding pathways to legal recognition, voting rights, and cultural integration while maintaining connections to their countries of origin. In response, European states are experimenting with flexible citizenship models, such as residency-based rights, naturalization reforms, and local-level political participation.
However, tensions persist between inclusive policies and rising nationalist sentiments, making the future of migrant citizenship a contested space where aspirations and restrictive policies collide.
This interdisciplinary workshop, Migrant Aspirations and New Models of Citizenship, which touched on a number of these themes, was held on 20 February 2025 at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. It was co-sponsored by HIDDEN and the GAPs
(https://www.returnmigration.eu/), a Horizon Europe project and organised by Dr Sergiu
Gherghina (University of Glasgow), Prof. Michael J. Geary (NTNU) and Dr Susan Rottmann
(Ozyegin University).
The workshop featured 10 presentations and discussions on diverse aspects of citizenship and migration with topics ranging from the legal consciousness of new citizens to the political mobilization of emigrants and the challenges faced by refugees. Thales Speroni (National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Centre Norbert Elias), for example, argued that while scholarship on citizenship acquisition through jus sanguinis has developed along a binary—studies either emphasizing individuals’ strategic instrumentalization of passports or their emotional bond to ancestral roots, his paper, (co-authored with Melissa Blanchard (CNRS), was focused on overcoming the heuristic limitations of this dichotomy by conceptualizing ancestral citizenship as a dynamic process where instrumental considerations, identity claims, and subjective aspirations continuously overlap. Delving into biographical narratives of South Americans of Italian descent who migrated to Europe with an Italian passport, it questions the meaning they attach to Italian citizenship.
Elena Borisova (University of Sussex) analyzed how naturalized citizenship can be
weaponized by looking at the risks of war mobilization in Russia. Two papers took up the
theme of of transnational political mobilization and the emigrant vote in Turkish elections
((Selin Sivis (University of Bristol) and Marius Mehrl (University of Leeds) and Alisait Yilkin (Bielefeld University)).
Elisabeth Challinor’s (NOVA University Lisbon) paper examined the complexities of seeking legal residence in Portugal. These are just some of the fascinating topics addressed. Attempting to draw cross-national comparisons, participants presented work on Canada, Germany, Turkey, Morocco, Italy, Romania, and several other countries.
The workshop concluded with a discussion of publication plans aiming for a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal in early 2026.
