MariaCaterina La Barbera “Head or heart? Unpacking the subjective dimension of citizenship acquisition: Insights from migrants’ narratives in Spain”

This paper explores the subjective dimension of citizenship acquisition by analyzing how migrants in Spain feel about becoming citizens. Our research shows that the subjective dimension of citizenship is embedded in a complex constellation of strategic choices and affective motivations that cannot be analyzed in dichotomic terms. While migrants seek legal security, equal rights and better jobs, becoming citizens makes them feel more secure and increases their well-being. Moreover, citizenship acquisition has a performative effect that goes beyond just being accepted as members of the polity, and includes a sense of recognition and a sense of duty. Migrants’ narratives also show that expectations of social integration are countered by a persistent sense of otherness, especially in the case of racialized migrants. The paper to the recent “affective turn” in citizenship studies by unpacking the motivations, expectations, and effects of citizenship acquisition..

MariaCaterina La Barbera holds a PhD in Human Rights from the University of Palermo, Italy (2008). Her field of research is Feminist Legal and Social Philosophy. Intersectionality is her main area of specialization. Her research is interdisciplinary, covering Human Rights, Critical Legal Studies, Law & Society, Gender Studies, and Citizenship Studies. The common thread of her research is the conceptualization of equality and difference, focusing on intersectionality from a human rights perspective. She currently is IP of the project INTERSEGRA: “Integration and belonging in the institutional praxis: critical discourse analysis from a gender and intersectionality perspective” and co-IP of the research project CIVITES: “The subjective dimension of citizenship: conceptions, legal praxis and individual strategies in Italy and Spain” funded by the Spanish State Research Agency of the Ministry of Science and Innovation.