Making Citizens Beyond the Borders
The decision to extend citizenship to nonresidents grows out of specific identity projects undertaken, most often, by right-wing governments and results in fluid and variable conditions of membership.
The Citizenship Conundrum in Post-Communist Europe: The Instructive Case of Croatia
THE RECENT HISTORY OF CROATIA CAN BE SEEN as a succession of politically clearly marked decades and every decade can be associated with deep political transformations for the country. A nationalist Croatia under the reign of its late President Franjo Tu dman from May 1990 to December 1999 transformed itself into a Euro-compatible Croatia at the doorstep of the European Union throughout the 2000s. It is safe to predict that by 2011 or shortly thereafter Croatia will satisfy the majority of the conditions for EU membership. When Croatia will actually enter the Union as a fullfledged member is another matter, but it is possible that the 2010s will be marked either by Croatia’s accession to the EU, or by its failure to join that club, or by the EU’s failure to absorb Croatia or any other new member. If one believes in the cyclical nature of human affairs, one could also convincingly claim that two distinctive decades preceded Croatia’s independence. The 1970s were marked by the failure of the Croatian Spring movement in the early 1970s, and the 1980s were marked by Tito’s death in May 1980 and the turbulent post-Tito decade that followed. This ended with disintegration of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (Savez komunista Jugoslavije) in January 1990, the democratisation of the Yugoslav republics throughout 1990 and, eventually, with the violent disintegration of their federation in 1991. We may leave it to historians to establish later if dividing Croatia’s recent political past into decades has any analytical relevance. However, when it comes to citizenship policies in post-independence Croatia, there is a significant difference between political and administrative practices in the 1990s and in post-Tu dman Croatia. One only needs to recall that Tu dman started his speeches with the words ‘Hrvati i Hrvatice, gra dani Hrvatske’, which clearly symbolised Croatia’s nature in the 1990s. It was a country that distinguished and therefore discriminated between those citizens of ethnic Croat origins and those of different ethnic origins. However, one could sense that a change
“Family” Support for Family Violence: Exploring Community Support Systems for Lesbian and Bisexual Women Who Have Experienced Abuse
ABSTRACT “Family” is a euphemistic term that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people use among ourselves to designate membership in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. Ironically, this “family” may be the most sought, yet least successful, support for dealing with the intimate partner violence that occurs within LGBT families. This study of 11 lesbian and bisexual women's experiences seeking support revealed several tiers of unmet needs within the LGBT community. They rarely used services in the general community, although these services are often the focus of both criticism and efforts to build support systems for LGBT victim/survivors. A model presents the different stages and potential sources of support.