Previous notions of what constitutes "citizenship" within a country have been steadily challenged by the movement towards a globalized world. Examining the everyday habits of citizens and non-citizens, the contributors to Recasting the Social in Citizenship show how citizenship has increasingly been determined by social behaviours rather than by civil or political affiliations. Broadening the debate by interpreting the social not only as rights and privileges, but also as everyday struggles, this volume offers studies that range from environmental and security issues to transnational migration and military transformations. It further discusses debates over multiculturalism and integration and takes a fresh look at how social activities such as eating, commuting, smoking, as well as sexual habits of citizens and non-citizens have become increasingly governed by the state.

Tracing developments in politics and social actions that have bound together citizens and non-citizens, Engin F. Isin and the volume's contributors explore the social sites that have become objects of government, and considers how these subjects are sites of contestation, resistance, differentiation and identification. In doing so, they provide significant insights into the changing states of citizenship and social governance, making Recasting the Social in Citizenship an engaging collection that will be of interest to sociologists, political scientists, and anyone with a concern about immigration and citizenship.

Engin F. Isin is a professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies and Director of the Centre for Citizenship, Identities, and Governance at the Open University.

Engin F. Isin's profile page

‘Social in Citizenship, as a concept and a theoretical stance, demonstrates an evolution in our current understanding of citizenship. This book evolves knowledge... A shift in our understanding of citizenship is relevant at this time in history because the very essence of what it means to be a citizen in a democratic place has become entangled in confusion... "social in citizenship" reinforces our absolute interdependency and our core oneness as a humanity. ’

Kyle Y. Whitefield; <i>Canadian Journal of University Continuing Education, vol 36:02:12010</i>