The Nexus between Conceptualisation of Citizenship and International Mobility
By Ada Adoley Allotey, PhD
Though the concept of citizenship is not new, it has gained significance in many people’s lives in recent years because it provides assurance or denial of rights, economic benefits and social services, education, due process of law, and opportunities to affect political decisions. Additionally, the concept of citizenship has received widespread attention due to the increasing growth in international mobility, particularly in migration and tourism. In other words, studies on citizenship in the migration and tourism contexts have focused on the modes of acquisition of citizenship. The concept of citizenship is predicated on certain principles, such as the fact that citizens should possess a range of civil, political and social rights, and these rights should be counterbalanced by obligations like obeying laws, paying taxes and defending the country in times of conflict. Moreover, a country is supposed to include citizens who reside on its territory, and each citizen is expected to belong to only one country. However, these principles are quite different from reality as citizenship changes over space and time. The presentation explores some viewpoints on the concept of citizenship and its connection with international mobility.
Organizer
Dr. Ada Adoley Allotey holds a PhD in Migration Studies from the Centre for Migration Studies, University of Ghana. Her doctoral thesis was on Ghanaian women’s participation in birth tourism to the United States of America. She also holds a master’s degree in Tourism Destination Management from Breda University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands, and a BSc. in Tourism from the University of Cape Coast. She has been an Assistant Programme Officer at the Human Settlement Unit of the Environmental Protection Agency since November 2020. From 2011 until 2019, She was also a tourism management lecturer at Zenith University College. Rural-urban migration, urban sociology, destination image and management, transnational migration, and tourism are among Ada’s research interests. She is the President of the African Mobility Scholars Association (AMSA), a professional regional body of Migration and Mobility Scholars and Researchers in Africa.