Changing Measures of the Quantum of Sufficient Germanness: Access to German Citizenship of Children of German/Non-German Parentage, and Children Eligible Under Jus Soli Provisions

Citizenship, and in particular citizenship for children of one German, one non-German citizen parent as well as children who are eligible for citizenship via jus soli but who are of non-German-citizen parentage offer a particular rich ground to unravel the ethno-religio-socio-legalhistorical matrix of Germanness that directly feeds into the dynamics that underpin the parameters of legal inclusion and exclusion into German citizenry. The dynamics of the intersecting social and legal discourses relate to changing notions of gender, immigration, and (inter) parentage. While the legal framework of citizenship and rights of parents and children is highly dynamic, it remains reflective of the ongoing and intersecting struggles about Germanness in social, and German citizenship in legal discourses, indicating the on-going, unresolved conflicts about what intermediary spheres must be met to qualify socially as German enough to be legally eligible for German citizenship in the age of global migrations.