CRI372H1

Regulating Citizenship

The course examines selected topics in the scholarly study of citizenship, including the history of citizenship, normative theories of democratic citizenship, rights and duties of citizenship, acquisition and loss of citizenship, and related issues, such as multiple citizenship, statelessness, and the international law of citizenship. Readings come from law, history, political science, and other disciplines; and cover Canada, other western societies, and developing countries. The course comprises three basic units: the normative basis and historical evolution of citizenship, including a case study of Canada, policies governing the acquisition and loss of citizenship in Canada and elsewhere, and the parameters of citizenship and lack of citizenship in the contemporary world. Students will gain an understanding of the historical evolution of forms of political membership in both western and non-western societies, the constitutive role of citizenship in creating and maintaining individual rights, and the development and contemporary regulation of Canadian citizenship in comparative international perspective.