Sub-state regions and citizenship in Europe: Changing Borders in Europe Exploring the Dynamics of Integration, Differentiation and Self-Determination in the European Union

The chapter examines European sub-state regions as loci of competing self-determination claims and overlapping citizenship regimes. There are two basic premises the chapter relies on: that self-determination is a claim rather than a right; and that extending citizenship to territorially concentrated groups constitutes a surrogate for self-determination. The latter premise is a novel way of looking at the link between citizenship and self-determination. The main question of the chapter is twofold: (a) what role does extra-territorial citizenship play in contested territories and in the context of competing self-determination claims; and (b) can there be a normative justification for conferring dual citizenship considering the stability of sub-state territorial arrangements. The analysis relies on cases from Western, Central and Eastern Europe. The chapter is a contribution to the literatures on self-determination, citizenship and sovereignty. Building on the concept of citizenship constellation, the idea that citizenship regimes overlap a certain territory, the chapter argues we should consider adding a temporal dimension to our understanding of citizenship. Finally, this leads us to the new way of thinking that can be captured by the concept of self-determination constellations involving spatiotemporal relations between self-determination, citizenship and territory.