ABSTRACT
The Debate on Multicultural Membership For some time now, American citizenship has been a subject of intense debate. Scholars have moved beyond a tight focus on citizenship as a set of legal rights-either you have it or you don’t-to an unavoidable consideration of membership that includes a variety of subjects, who include noncitizens. There are citizens (native and naturalized), and then there are green-card holders and legal refugees, who it is assumed will eventually apply for naturalization. Then there is a growing category of temporary visa holders-the skilled workers on H-IB visas, the overseas students, and the contract labor migrants. Finally, there are the illegal residents, those foreigners without papers who nevertheless live and work as part of society. Culture wars since the 1970s have broadened discussions beyond citizenship to membership of a variety of legal, partially legal and illegal residents. Great waves of migrations from Latin America and Asia, the circulations of business travelers and students, and the ever growing number of individuals with dual citizenship all add to a society of astonishing flux and diversity.
