The Power of Not Wanting: Renouncing US Citizenship

Abstract

Law is constitutive and, therefore, can construct social realities and shape cultural national identities (see Clifford 2002; Moore 2005; Rivera Ramos 2001; Starr and Goodale 2002). Law as constitutive does more than regulate society; it also brings to life new relationships and meanings (Sarat and Kearns 1993, 27). Although not deterministic, law can construct cultural national identity to the extent that individuals internalize “law’s meanings” and representations of how they define themselves (Sarat and Kearns 1993, 29).