Postcolonial Citizens and Ethnic Migration ― The Netherlands and Japan in the Age of Globalization

As the velocity and intensity of migrations increase around the world, legal citizenship and ethnicity are becoming two of the most contested issues facing the modern state. Many of today's debates about immigration are focused on arguments around the positive and negative effects of increased ethnic diversity and who should be entitled to legal membership. What does it mean politically then to arrive in a country privileged as a legal citizen or co-ethnic?

This book is the first to comparatively analyze the political realities of Dutch Antillean citizens in the Netherlands, and Latin American Nikkeijin (Japanese descendants) in Japan, who inherit host state access as post-colonial citizens and ethnic immigrants. Sharpe's unique cross-regional investigation considers the ways in which globalization, immigration, citizenship, and ethnicity interact as a means to understanding some of the strains and contradictions of membership in contemporary liberal democratic states.

Postcolonial Citizens and Ethnic Migration will appeal to a wide range of scholars in political science, sociology, anthropology, international relations, ethnic studies and migration.

Michael O. Sharpe is Assistant Professor of Political Science at York College, City University of New York, USA. In addition to adjunct positions at Ramapo College and the Master of International Relations Program at City College and CUNY, he has previously worked as a political analyst for a Japanese consulate and a project coordinator for a Tokyo-based international NGO.