Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Brexit, which caused Britons to lose E.U. citizenship and E.U. citizens in the U.K. to lose E.U. legislation protection, represents a challenge for the citizenships of E.U. member states. In this context, I explore the experiences with respect to Italian citizenship of Italians in the U.K., Britons in Italy, and Britons in the U.K. and elsewhere with claims to Italian citizenship. I show how Italian citizenship legislation, despite recent restrictions, still offers good protection to Italians abroad and relatives of Italian citizens. While naturalization by residence in Italy is characterized by exclusionary requirements, I show how the British population in Italy also includes long-term residents who have not sought naturalization despite meeting the requirements well before Brexit. Beyond the letter of the law, procedures of naturalization and the functioning of the linked institutions – especially consulates – are key in the experience of citizenship. For some interviewees, it was less complex to meet the requirements in the letter of the law than to prove it through the procedures. More generally, the analysis shows the complexity of citizenship in its internal and external dimensions, in the stratification of the experiences for different profiles of citizens and applicants, and in the interaction between the letter of the law and its implementation.
Author: Djordje Sredanovic
Institution: University of Chester
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funder: British Academy
Award: G3085157311
OpenAlex ID: W4409986798