Abstract

This essay reviews an important recent publication, Struggles for Belonging. Citizenship in Europe 1900-2020, written by Berlin-based historian Dieter Gosewinkel. The book is a major contribution to the field of citizenship studies in historical perspective and has been widely celebrated as such. While it precisely traces the development of citizenship law in a significant selected part of Europe over a long 20th century, it also stands out for its methodological approach. The analysis focuses on the cases of Britain, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Russia, taking into account not only the laws or the legislators, but also what the author calls the «social and political constellations», a broad set of conditions that determined citizenship law. The essay acquaints the reader with the author and his long scholarly engagement with the topic of citizenship; secondly, it offers a critical reading of the individual, rather extensive chapters, pointing out the main themes discussed in them; finally, it places this eminent volume in the lively field of the history of citizenship in modern Europe and offers some reflections on new research ideas.