The project is part of the NCCR - On the Move and studies current transformations of citizenship in the frame of cities, focusing on Montreal and Brussels. Both cities are multi-lingual and feature a long and multifaceted history of migration. And both cities are situated in settings of multilayered citizenship regimes. These regimes consist of supra-national organizations, like the EU or Commonwealth, the national level, as well as sub-state nations, federal entities, and the urban level, which grant different opportunities and rights to different people (such as voting rights).

“Urban citizenship” as key concept in this study focuses on concrete negotiations, practices and contestation of citizenship – also in the case of absence of formal citizenship. The project analyzes (1) forms, understandings, and practices of urban citizenship and (2) its relation to the multiple layers of citizenship regimes, as well as (3) the effect on social cohesion and participation and possibilities to better frame citizenship institutionally on an urban level.

The project is conducted in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Matteo Gianna at the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Geneva. It seeks to combine theoretical and methodical approaches from Political Science and Political Philosophy with those from Cultural Anthropology in the study design, research and analysis. Moreover, it seeks to develop policy suggestions on a comparative level.

From Dec 2019 to May 2020, an additional project was carried out together with Metka Hercog and Silva Lässer: Initiatives for Non-Citizen Voting Rights, funded by the NCCR - On the Move International Standing Fund. Research was carried out on three initiatives (in Basel, Freiburg and Brussels) that campaign for more inclusive voting rights.