Religion-Based Boundaries. Restricting Pluralism through Symbolic Barriers

This chapter explores the interaction between addressing migration flows and regulating citizenship acquisition under the lens of security concerns that emerged, in particular, after 9/11. It does so by exploring the practice of “testing”, carried out in some European Union (EU) countries, and by focusing on religious factors. This chapter shows that in regulating both migration and citizenship, countries often conflate concerns about security with concerns about potential clashes over values and identity. First, tightening immigration law has often been justified by the compelling need to safeguard internal security. In practice, however, it affects pluralism, and in particular religious diversity. Second, the attempt to prevent potential clashes between religious norms and State values through immigration law was first applied to third-country nationals. At the moment of acquiring citizenship, however, it has been extended to would-be citizens as well. Consequently, the notion of citizenship has been internalized when addressing perceived threats coming from the outside, especially when related to third-country nationals.