Basic freedoms cannot be abandoned in times of conflict, or can they? Are basic freedoms routinely forsaken during times when there are national security concerns? These questions present different conundrums for the legal profession, which generally values basic freedoms but is also part of the architecture of emergency legal frameworks. Unleashing the Force of Law uses multi-jurisdiction empirical data and draws on cause lawyering, political lawyering and Bourdieusian juridical field literature to analyze the invocation of legal norms aimed at the protection of basic freedoms in times of national security tensions. It asks three main questions about the protection of basic freedoms. First, when do lawyers mobilize for the protection of basic freedoms? Second, in what kind of mobilization do they engage? Third, how do the strategies they adopt relate to the outcomes they achieve? Covering the last five decades, the book focusses on the 1980s and the Noughties through an analysis of legal work for two groups of independence seekers in the 1980s, namely, Republican (mostly Catholic) separatists in Northern Ireland and Puerto Rican separatists in the US, and on post-9/11 issues concerning basic freedoms in both countries

''When the exception becomes the norm, the power of the sovereign is arbitrary, just as in pre-democratic times. But such arbitrariness is not random: it is applied primarily to certain categories of what used to be called ''the lower orders'' of society - the undocumented immigrants and the racially ''other,'' regardless of prior citizenship status. The very notion of citizen becomes vague and the status can be lost through a Kafkaesque process in which the state is unfathomable and often acts behind the scenes. This book edited by Devyani Prabhat brings together academics and lawyers working in the field of nationality and immigration laws, and shows how what has long been a feature of the labor market, namely, the precarious nature of jobs, has now become a feature of basic rights of ''belonging.'' Citizenship is precarious too. The chapters in this volume lead us straight to the question: What is the rule of law in such state of indistinction? Societies in decadence, like the current Western powers, entwine retrenchment with resentment, the exceptional with the normal, the in-group with the out-group. Devyani Prabhat and her colleagues analyze with great precision the alarming advance of legal imprecision, the interests that are vested in categorical confusion, and the erosion of basic rights in societies like the UK and the US - notably the right of persons to reside in peace and without fear.' - Juan Corradi, New York University, US This innovative book considers the evolution of the contemporary issues surrounding British citizenship, integrating the social aspects and ideas of identity and belonging alongside its legal elements. With contributions from renowned lawyers and academics, it challenges the view that there are immutable values and enduring rights associated with citizenship status. The book is organised into three thematic parts. Expert contributors trace the life cycle of the citizenship process, focusing on becoming a British citizen, retaining this citizenship with its associated rights, and the potential loss of citizenship owing to immigration controls. Through a critical examination of the concepts and content of British citizenship, the premise that citizenship retracts from full membership in society in times of turmoil is questioned. Wide-ranging and interdisciplinary, Citizenship in Times of Turmoil? will be a key resource for scholars and students working within the fields of migration, citizenship and immigration law. Including details of legal practice, it will also be of benefit to practitioners.

Long term resident migrants to the UK still face significant barriers to citizenship. Dr Prabhat captures the experiences of those who successfully become British citizens through stories of belonging, citizenship, and the law. The book exposes the challenges which become insurmountable for many migrants, and illuminates the gap between policy and practice in gaining British citizenship.

Basic freedoms cannot be abandoned in times of conflict, or can they? Are basic freedoms routinely forsaken during times when there are national security concerns? These questions present different conundrums for the legal profession, which generally values basic freedoms but is also part of the architecture of emergency legal frameworks. Unleashing the Force of Law uses multi-jurisdiction empirical data and draws on cause lawyering, political lawyering and Bourdieusian juridical field literature to analyze the invocation of legal norms aimed at the protection of basic freedoms in times of national security tensions. It asks three main questions about the protection of basic freedoms. First, when do lawyers mobilize for the protection of basic freedoms? Second, in what kind of mobilization do they engage? Third, how do the strategies they adopt relate to the outcomes they achieve? Covering the last five decades, the book focusses on the 1980s and the Noughties through an analysis of legal work for two groups of independence seekers in the 1980s, namely, Republican (mostly Catholic) separatists in Northern Ireland and Puerto Rican separatists in the US, and on post-9/11 issues concerning basic freedoms in both countries