The Shifting Parameters of Nationality
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multiple nationalities (which is reflected in the regulation on acquisition and deprivation of nationality).
Traditionally dual nationality was considered an anomaly because the legal bond
of nationality between an individual and the state was considered exclusive and
indissoluble, reflecting perpetual allegiance and loyalty.165 In the meantime, and
particularly since the 1980s the conceptualisation of citizenship and nationality has
changed, translating into a growing tendency to accept dual nationality.166 A variety
of reasons have been identified to explain this shift,167 but what seems to play a
significant role is the current reality of a mobile world, in which people migrate to
other states than their state of origin and nationality. The new patterns of belonging
that thus emerge facilitate the acceptance that one can have loyalties to more than
one state. The expansion of communication channels furthermore makes it easier to
be a functional citizen in both/more countries.168 Also strategic considerations come
into play, both for the state of origin and the state of residence: the former seeks to
accommodate its own nationals abroad who want to maintain ties and the latter is
influenced by changing notions of what will optimize integration of migrants into
the state of residence.169
As is further elaborated in the other articles in this special issue, dual nationality raises additional thorny questions in relation to the exercise of diplomatic protection,170 and whether this more open attitude towards dual nationals does not
facilitate so-called instrumental citizenship (for example in the world of Olympic
sports).171
5 Some Concluding Observations
The preceding analysis has revealed how the changing spatialities of citizenship culminated in a focus on the nation-state, and the emergence of legal citizenship or
nationality, reflecting the legal bond between an individual and a state. It was also
noted that in several respects the parameters of nationality keep changing. More particularly, four developments have been highlighted that circumscribe the sovereign
right of states to determine who are their nationals, both legally and through de facto
pressures. First, as was emphasized in this contribution, and is taken up in several
other articles in this special issue, the expanding human rights paradigm does not
only increasingly detach rights from nationality (status), but also constrains the sovereign choices made in relation to the conferral and deprivation of nationality, not
in the least through the prohibition of discrimination. Secondly, and relatedly, the
165
Spiro (2017), pp. 622–623.
Sejersen (2008), p. 534.
167
Spiro (2017), pp. 622, 630; Sejersen (2008), pp. 538–542.
168
Sejersen (2008), pp. 538–539.
169
Sejersen (2008), p. 542.
170
See Denza (2018) in this special issue.
171
Spiro (2017), p. 623. See also Wollmann (2018) in this special issue.
166
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