Temporary Migration and the Shortcomings of Citizenship

In this chapter we analyze and discuss a specific kind of circular migration, which is oriented to return and whose rationale and goals imply that migrants do not seek, and indeed actively avoid, any sort of involvement and investment in the receiving society. We show that neither the traditional notion of national citizenship, nor the more flexible notion of post-national citizenship can accommodate the life plans and address the specific vulnerabilities of this special category of migrants. As an illustration of the phenomenology of this kind of migratory practices, and of the normative issues they raise, we refer to the case of circular migration of Romanian domestic and care workers in Italy. In order to address the specific needs and plans of these migrants, we suggest, we had better put aside the language of equal citizenship and of citizenship rights, and envision instead special rights meant to facilitate their unorthodox life projects.