The citizenship-integration nexus from below

Migrants' understanding of citizenship acquisition as a pathway to integration in Italy and Spain

Bibliographic Data

ID3639452
AuthorsClaudia Finotelli (0000-0001-9645-8662), Mariacaterina La Barbera (0000-0002-2065-6686), Stefania Yapo (0000-0003-4557-8546)
Year2025
Volume51
Issue11
Pages2919-2940
Publication date2025-07-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Community (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-9586 • E-ISSN: 1469-9451
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1369183x.2025.2473619
OpenAlexW4408722358
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited41

Citizenship acquisition represents a crucial step to achieve full integration in the country of residence. Yet, citizenship studies have largely addressed the relevance of institutional configuration of citizenship regimes to foster integration while sidelining migrants’ subjective understanding of citizenship as a pathway to integration. The objective of this article is to gather empirical evidence of migrants’ understanding of how citizenship acquisition shapes integration. It argues that the subjective dimension of citizenship acquisition is crucial to understand the citizenship-integration nexus beyond policies, institutions and legal norms. Empirical findings have been structured along three themes that are considered relevant for integration: well-being, sense of belonging, and trust. Analysis is based on 50 semi-structured interviews conducted in Italy and Spain with migrants from Ecuador, Brazil, Morocco, the Philippines, and Romania. Italy and Spain have been chosen for comparison as two countries with a similar migration history but different citizenship regimes. Results show that in both countries citizenship acquisition is related with increasing well-being and sense of trust, while the sense of belonging overlaps with a sense of non-belonging linked to discriminatory attitudes perceived in everyday practices, despite the legal inclusion through citizenship acquisition

Citizenship · Economic geography · Geography · Immigration · Nexus (standard · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Computer Science · Education and experiences of immigrants and refugees · Gender Studies · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

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