Dual Nationality as an Expression of Contradictory Membership Models
For more than 25 years, dual nationality has been discussed controversially within Germany. Parliament is about to adopt a law that will generally accept it, including in scenarios where I had still been outlawed. Daniel Thym welcomes the shorter time limits for naturalisation but highlights an underlying theoretical tension if dual nationality promotes a post-ethnic conception of nationhood from a German perspective, while perpetuating ethno-cultural belonging with regard to home states. An ‘generation cut’ (Generationenschnitt) would provide a way out, whose realisation is complicated by legal and diplomatic hurdles and the lack of political will. Daniel Thym discusses the underlying tension in an Open-ed for DIE WELT (‘Der Selbstwiderspruch der Ampel bei der doppelten Staatsbürgerschaft’) and in an academic contribution for the JURISTENZEITUNG (‘Fallstricke des “Doppelpasses”: rechtliche Inhalte und legitime Symbolik’; both in German).