 | Seyla Benhabib |
The forces of globalization, in general, and the creation of the European Union, in particular, have changed the way the people today think about membership in a nation-state, said Seyla Benhabib, the Eugene Meyer Professor of Political Science and Philosophy, in a recent lecture on campus.
Benhabib's talk, "Citizens, Residents and Aliens in a Changing World: The Case of Contemporary Europe," was the third of this year's "In the Company of Scholars" lectures sponsored by the dean of the Graduate School. It took place on Jan. 29 in the Hall of Graduate Studies.
"The peoples of the world are on the move, across continents, oceans and borders," noted Benhabib, adding that today's migrations pose challenges that are different from those that came before because "[w]e are in the midst of developments which challenge the territorially bounded state-centric model which was established in Europe and elsewhere in the world after World War II."
As a result, the definition of citizenship has grown exceedingly complex, contended Benhabib. Because the countries of the European Union have unified their currencies and simplified trade and migration across borders, national identities are no longer straightforward, she said. "The modern nation-state system, characterized by the 'inner world' of territorially bounded politics and the 'outer world' of foreign, military and diplomatic relations ... is undergoing changes which amount to its deep reconfiguration."
Citizenship, said the Yale scholar, "is becoming disaggregated." She defined the component parts of citizenship as "collective identity, privileges of political membership and social rights and benefits," but noted that these components do not always go together. For example, she added, under some circumstances, an individual might identify himself as a member of one nationality by virtue of birth and culture, and enjoy the social benefits of a host country -- such as unemployment compensation -- but have no right to vote in elections in that country. This situation occurs frequently within the European Union, she noted, especially in the case of foreign workers.
"The danger in this situation is that of 'permanent alienage,' namely the creation of a group in society that partakes of property rights and civil society without having access to political rights," she cautioned.
"Should we view disaggregation and the end of the unitary model of citizenship with dismay?" she mused. "Are these developments indicators of the 'devaluation' of citizenship, a trend toward 'lean citizenship,' insofar as one no longer need be a citizen to have access to some coveted social rights? Or are these developments indicators of a new sense of global justice and harbingers of a new sense of new modalities of political agency, heralding perhaps cosmopolitan citizenship?"
Because "disaggregated" citizenship allows people to develop and sustain "multiple allegiances and networks across nation-state boundaries," it encourages them to transcend differences of language, religion and birthplace, and feel connected to one another despite their differences, argued Benhabib.
Although the outcome is still uncertain, insofar as this new kind of citizenship extends human rights to all, and insofar as it is coupled with democratic institutions, Benhabib believes that it is a welcome development.
At the risk of sounding what she called "Pollyanna-ish," Benhabib argued, "I appeal to this model because it shows us that we can hope for a better future" -- one in which we "treat each person, whatever their political citizenship status, in accordance with the dignity of universal personality. This implies acknowledging that the right to cross borders and to seek entry into different polities is not a criminal act, but an expression of human freedom and the search for human betterment in a world which we have to share with our fellow human beings."
Benhabib joined the Yale faculty in 2001. She earned her Ph.D. in philosophy from Yale in 1977 with a dissertation titled "Natural Right and Hegel: An Essay in Modern Political Theory."
Prior to her Yale appointment, Benhabib was at Harvard University for eight years as a professor in the Department of Government and a senior research fellow at the Center for European Studies.
-- By Gila Reinstein
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