Centre for European Studies Talk: Borders, Migration, and Multilevel Citizenship in the E.U. and U.S.

Event Description

What do the different free movement and citizenship regimes of the U.S. and the E.U. reveal about their political projects and the nature of their polities? Proponents of European integration see free movement as an explicit goal on a continent fragmented by separate cultures and identities, robust and diverse national institutions, modest economic integration relative to the U.S., and relatively low-mobility national cultures that make reducing barriers and encouraging free movement central to the European project. By contrast, the relationship of internal free movement to the political project of American federalism is far less direct, and mobility is encouraged by a shared language, culture, and national identity, relatively homogeneous state institutions, high and longstanding economic integration, and a historical culture of mobility. Though the E.U. often tries to imitate aspects of the U.S. – especially hoping to emulate American geographic mobility and the economic dynamism it signifies – these are very different political projects, and their steps to foster free movement and shared citizenship occur under very different conditions.

This event is co-sponsored by the Centre for European Studies, the Centre for Migration Studies, the Comp-Can Colloquium in the Department of Political Science and the Jean Monnet Center of Excellence in Critical Infrastructure Studies. 

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Speaker 

Willem Maas, Jean Monnet Chair and Professor of Political Science, Public & International Affairs, Social & Political Thought, and Socio-Legal Studies at York University, chaired Glendon Political Science for four and half years, Glendon Faculty Council for four, and is engaged in professional service, including currently serving as chair of IPSA's Migration and Citizenship RC, vice-chair of ISA's ENMISA section, and remaining active in APSA's Migration and Citizenship section, which he co-founded. Professor Maas has held appointments at Yale, NYU, Radboud, Leiden, EUI, and elsewhere, headed the Canadian part of the Whole-COMM project examining migration to smaller cities, serves on the board of Migration Studies, and co-edits the Oxford Studies in Migration and Citizenship book series. He writes on EU and multilevel citizenship, migration, borders, free movement, and politics focusing on Europe and North America.