China does not permit dual nationality, meaning migrants to Australia must evaluate the benefits of Chinese versus Australian citizenship. Decisions about competing memberships are informed not only by this prohibition of dual nationality but also by individual migrant’s classed positions within China. By comparing the choices of labour migrants with heavy trade skills who come from different backgrounds in China, this paper shows that homeland social class is a key factor in decision-making processes, particularly the uniquely Chinese spatial expression of class manifested through the hukou system and the differential local citizenship this entails. An analysis of representative cases operationalises Bauböck’s (2010) constellations approach, illustrating the complexities of evaluating memberships acquired through migration, where full social inclusion in the host society may be contested, and nested memberships resulting from local citizenships within China, which entails unequal access to the rights and benefits of urban residency. People from different backgrounds and, importantly, different places in China’s socio-spatial hierarchy, value their Chinese legal status differently. This difference affects how they calculate both the instrumental and the affective worth of competing citizenship statuses. These findings demonstrate the economic inequalities and cultural distinctions engendered by citizenships operate not only between but also within nation-states, and result in varied and contingent experiences of in/exclusion and un/belonging.
China does not permit dual nationality, meaning migrants to Australia must evaluate the benefits of Chinese versus Australian citizenship. Decisions about competing memberships are informed not only by this prohibition of dual nationality but also by individual migrant’s classed positions within China. By comparing the choices of labour migrants with heavy trade skills who come from different backgrounds in China, this paper shows that homeland social class is a key factor in decision-making processes, particularly the uniquely Chinese spatial expression of class manifested through the hukou system and the differential local citizenship this entails. An analysis of representative cases operationalises Bauböck’s (2010) constellations approach, illustrating the complexities of evaluating memberships acquired through migration, where full social inclusion in the host society may be contested, and nested memberships resulting from local citizenships within China, which entails unequal access to the rights and benefits of urban residency. People from different backgrounds and, importantly, different places in China’s socio-spatial hierarchy, value their Chinese legal status differently. This difference affects how they calculate both the instrumental and the affective worth of competing citizenship statuses. These findings demonstrate the economic inequalities and cultural distinctions engendered by citizenships operate not only between but also within nation-states, and result in varied and contingent experiences of in/exclusion and un/belonging.
China does not permit dual nationality, meaning migrants to Australia must evaluate the benefits of Chinese versus Australian citizenship. Decisions about competing memberships are informed not only by this prohibition of dual nationality but also by individual migrant’s classed positions within China. By comparing the choices of labour migrants with heavy trade skills who come from different backgrounds in China, this paper shows that homeland social class is a key factor in decision-making processes, particularly the uniquely Chinese spatial expression of class manifested through the hukou system and the differential local citizenship this entails. An analysis of representative cases operationalises Bauböck’s (2010) constellations approach, illustrating the complexities of evaluating memberships acquired through migration, where full social inclusion in the host society may be contested, and nested memberships resulting from local citizenships within China, which entails unequal access to the rights and benefits of urban residency. People from different backgrounds and, importantly, different places in China’s socio-spatial hierarchy, value their Chinese legal status differently. This difference affects how they calculate both the instrumental and the affective worth of competing citizenship statuses. These findings demonstrate the economic inequalities and cultural distinctions engendered by citizenships operate not only between but also within nation-states, and result in varied and contingent experiences of in/exclusion and un/belonging.
Keywords
denizen
differential citizenship
hukou
strategic citizenship
