Semblances of Sovereignty: The Constitution, The State, and American Citizenship, T. Alexander Aleinikoff, Harvard University Press, 2002. PP. 223

Authors

Harvey Gee, United States District Court for the Southern District of California

First Page

147

Document Type

Review

Abstract

A major contribution to the contemporary thinking about immigration, citizenship, and assimilation is offered by Georgetown Law Center Law Professor T. Alexander Aleinikoff in his recent volume, Semblances of Sovereignty: The Constitution, the State, and American Citizenship. The book helps to advance the immigration debate and define what it means to be an American. Aleinikoff paints with broad theoretical strokes with academics in mind. Relying on theory, he asks readers to consider how the court has treated the issue of "citizenship" and how it has defined its boundaries and limitations. He also addresses the reasons why traditional notions of immigrant citizens need to be re-conceptualized. Semblances of Sovereignty provides an in-depth discussion of the rights and obligations of citizenship and offers an ambitious schematic for social change.

Recommended Citation

Harvey Gee, Semblances of Sovereignty: The Constitution, The State, and American Citizenship, T. Alexander Aleinikoff, Harvard University Press, 2002. PP. 223, 16 St. Thomas L. Rev. 147 (2003).
Available at: https://scholarship.stu.edu/stlr/vol16/iss1/11