CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
| Author | Shevtsova, Maryna |
|---|---|
| Title | Acquisition of European Union citizenship through marriage: citizenship policies and the experience of transnational couples in Germany and Italy |
| Summary | This thesis provides a multiple analysis of citizenship policies of European Union member-states, in particular, Germany and Italy. Referring to the concepts of formal and substantive equality, the “management of intimacy”, and to the intersection between gender and “first class” and “second class” citizenship I examine changes introduced by EU member-states in domestic legislation to achieve gender equality in their citizenship policies covering the acquisition of citizenship through marriage. The transformation towards gender equality and the concomitant liberalization of citizenship acquisition for some groups of family members of EU nationals, however, has to be read together with the contrasting trend common to the member-states to restrict immigration flows from Third countries. As a result, the transformed legal framework has established rather formal equality while reinforcing grounds for substantive inequality based on the individual’s citizenship, gender, and social-cultural contexts. In the first part of the thesis I examine and compare gender-related changes introduced into citizenship legislation of Germany and Italy during the 20th century and analyze current nationality laws of these states concerning transnational marriages of their citizens with the nationals of non-EU countries. In the second part the interpretation of the data received from interviews with Ukrainian men and women married to citizens of Germany and Italy is presented. Based on the analysis of the citizenship law supported by the narrated experience of my interviewees I argue that current legislation for acquisition of citizenship through marriage and related social practice in both Germany and Italy substantive gender equality and gendered expectations in relation to transnational marriage continue to form controversial issues. |
| Supervisor | Zimmermann, Susan |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/shevtsova_maryna.pdf |
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