Australia, European Union and Slovenia

The concept of [national] identity and social cohesion are important political concepts to a state and supranational polity. They provide a sense of belonging and inclusiveness to citizens. This chapter will highlight that national identity, social coherence and citizenship are contested concepts, which have evolved over centuries. Today, citizenship provides a legal status. Secondly, citizenship affords a citizen with rights, duties and privileges. Thirdly, citizenship provides the collective of self-governance and to be active participants in the political community. The challenges facing national identity and social cohesion are multilayered and complex that can be directed by politics and to a lesser extent citizenship, immigration, rights and private international law. Moreover, citizenship is a form of identity (collective identity) and social membership that contributes to national identity in different ways. Citizenship has for centuries been used to develop and strengthen a national identity. That identity has enabled empires, communist, socialists, totalitarian, authoritarian and democratic rulers in the modern day nation state to build a level of cohesion and social engineering.