Immigration and the identity of citizenship: the paradox of universalism

Among other things, modern citizenship denotes an identity that unites and integrates the members of a state into a collectivity. This paper investigates what kind of citizenship identities contemporary European states display and further in their citizenship and integration campaigns toward immigrants and ethnic minorities. It is argued that citizenship identities are increasingly universalistic, resembling the precepts of ‘political liberalism’ (Rawls) and ‘constitutional patriotism’ (Habermas). This is paradoxical because what states have in common can impossibly lend a distinct identity to them, binding people to this and not any state. However, especially in confrontation with Muslim immigrants, liberalism tends to transmute from procedural framework for toleration into a substantive way of life, with strong exclusionary and identity-forging implications.