ABSTRACT
The decision to naturalize is more often than not the result of reflective processes that involve weighing benefits against costs. However, this is seldom a straightforward rational calculation, since each negotiation is unique and dependent on a myriad of individual emotions. Therefore, in the discussion of the costs of naturalization, I describe in this chapter an intricate process of self-bargaining, which is mostly linked to the identity-conferring aspect of citizenship. While citizenship matters to the extent that it enables and guarantees mobility, a complex form of re-alignment ensues, through a ‘self-bargaining’ process, in order to justify the pursuit of this aspiration. Particularly in countries where the acquisition of citizenship of the country of residence results in the loss of citizenship of the country of origin, self-bargaining resolves significant doubts and questions not only about the naturalization decision, but also about citizenship attachment. The main claim put forth in this chapter is not only that citizenship matters, as a form of attachment to the state, but also citizenship policies to which migrants are subjected are equally relevant in the self-bargaining process, which shows the significance of state and state policies to questions of mobility and mobile lifestyles.
