Introduction Voices of Contestation

Abstract

In 2005 I became an American citizen. My path to citizenship was a conscious choice. For me the decisive factor was that, as a citizen, I would have the right to vote, to engage in this country’s public sphere in a full-fledged manner. In my route to citizenship, I passed various signposts, which culminated in the oath-taking ceremony—and, for me, in voter registration. Registering to vote was my first act as a newly minted American citizen, and this deed felt more momentous than the oath-taking ceremony.