Beyond Citizenship

Spiro takes readers on an engaging historical and conceptual exploration of how citizenship law has set and reflected the boundaries of national community and an American national character. Against this broad tableau, Spiro shows how territorial presence--through birth or residence--resolved the peculiar challenges of American identity. But as globalization eclipses the significance of space, citizenship status becomes detached from any sense of actual community on the ground. The global diffusion of American political values and cultural production further erodes the p ossibility of a drawing a meaningful line between the "us" and "them."