The Construction and Conceptualisation of the Citizenship Boundaries: The development of the criteria for membership and entry of the Dutch Nation-state, 1880-1914

This thesis seeks to investigate the construction and the conceptualisation of the Dutch citizenship boundaries in the period 1880-1914. These boundaries are analysed by focusing on nationality, naturalisation, and expulsion policy, that determined the criteria for membership and entry. As a result of the rise of nation-states, citizenship was transformed into a crucial marker of identification, not only determining criteria of membership and entry, but also that of residence and work. This transformation began at the end of the nineteenth century. The primary sources consist of parliamentary debates, and correspondence between parliament and government, which illuminate the development of policy and the conceptualisation of citizenship. These sources were selected through query analysis. Furthermore, a selection of expulsion orders was collected to investigate the relatively unknown practice of expulsion policy. Both the criteria of membership and entry became more strict and...Show moreThis thesis seeks to investigate the construction and the conceptualisation of the Dutch citizenship boundaries in the period 1880-1914. These boundaries are analysed by focusing on nationality, naturalisation, and expulsion policy, that determined the criteria for membership and entry. As a result of the rise of nation-states, citizenship was transformed into a crucial marker of identification, not only determining criteria of membership and entry, but also that of residence and work. This transformation began at the end of the nineteenth century. The primary sources consist of parliamentary debates, and correspondence between parliament and government, which illuminate the development of policy and the conceptualisation of citizenship. These sources were selected through query analysis. Furthermore, a selection of expulsion orders was collected to investigate the relatively unknown practice of expulsion policy. Both the criteria of membership and entry became more strict and demarcated. Immigrants and their offspring became largely excluded from citizenship through a new nationality law, and an increasing amount of ‘unwanted’ and lower-class aliens was controlled and expelled. A relational approach illuminated that state and society constructed the citizenship boundaries in interaction, and that the citizenship boundaries were constructed in relation to that of other countries, most notably Germany. The development of the citizenship boundaries at the end of the nineteenth century is analysed in detail, which had important influences on issues of membership and entry in later periods.Show less

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The Construction and Conceptualisation of the Citizenship Boundaries: The development of the criteria for membership and entry of the Dutch Nation-state, 1880-1914