Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Germany

Brubaker brilliantly integrates institutional and cultural analysis. His focus on immigrants and citizenship in France and Germany makes a compelling case for understanding modern national states not only as organizations but also as associations of members. -- Theda Skocpol, Harvard University

The difference between French and German definitions of citizenship is instructive—and, for immigrants from North Africa, Turkey, and Eastern Europe, decisive. Brubaker shows how this difference—between the territorial basis of the French citizenry and German emphasis on blood descent—was shaped by sharply differing understandings of nationhood.The difference between French and German definitions of citizenship is instructive—and, for millions of immigrants from North Africa, Turkey, and Eastern Europe, decisive. Rogers Brubaker shows how this difference—between the territorial basis of the French citizenry and the German emphasis on blood descent—was shaped and sustained by sharply differing understandings of nationhood, rooted in distinctive French and German paths to nation-statehood.