Patriotic cosmopolitan identity

Blog post by Saime Özçürümez, Baskent University, Türkiye and Pınar Sönmez, Bilkent University, Türkiye
 
Scholars working on highly skilled migrants (HSMs) portray them as privileged cosmopolitans who can move effortlessly across borders due to high competition for attracting talent. However, little is known about how HSMs narrate their everyday experiences while reflecting on their sense of belonging. How do the HSMs reconcile national attachments with a global outlook? How do they navigate the complex socio-political landscapes of their host countries?
 
Our Identities article, ‘Patriotic cosmopolitans in Budapest: narratives of belonging among highly skilled migrants’, challenges the dominant framing and research on HSMs as essentially economic actors. We focus on their experience of international mobility and examine how they think through their identity and sense of belonging in complex socio-political settings. Drawing on Kwame Anthony Appiah’s assertion that one can identify as both a cosmopolitan and remain loyal to country of origin, we conceptualize cosmopolitanism and patriotism as intertwined spatial and emotional attachments constituting the foundations of HSMs’ sense of belonging. 

In our article, we posit patriotic cosmopolitanism as the hybrid identity constructed in the narratives of HSMs in Budapest. Comparing the narratives of both EU and non-EU HSMs, we explain the role EU citizenship plays in shaping experiences of belonging within a EU member country context and address a research gap by analyzing the narratives of both groups within a unified framework.

Our data suggests that the interplay between self-identification and everyday experiences shapes the identity construction of HSMs. EU and non-EU HSMs in Budapest exhibit shared characteristics as patriotic cosmopolitans. They embrace universal values and ideals while maintaining a meaningful attachment to their country of origin and particular identities. Their narratives suggest a fluid and adaptive sense of belonging. For the HSMs, home is a place of connection and not a mere geographical location on a map. They maintain a critical and engaged loyalty to their countries of origin and narrate how they delicately navigate through their multifaceted affiliations, involvement in global networks and implications of cultural, social and national identities.
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The demand for skilled labour in many EU countries continues to grow due to demographic decline and economic needs. Yet, nationalist and right-wing populist movements across Europe advocate for stricter migration controls, often blurring the lines between the desirability of different categories of migrants in their countries. This contradiction resonates in Hungary as well. Hungary has been under scrutiny for its democratic decline, with Viktor Orbán’s government implementing restrictive and illiberal policies on migration, academic freedom, and civil society.

The portrayal of migration as a threat aligns with Hungary’s broader political strategy often linked to national security and cultural preservation. Policies for attracting HSMs are developed alongside a fueling of anti-migration public rhetoric. Despite adversity in national contexts toward migrants, cities such as Budapest remain as hubs of diversity and economic opportunity. This reflects a broader global trend where urban centres act as spaces of openness, even when national governments adopt exclusionary policies.

The negative political rhetoric on migration triggers feelings of marginalization among both EU and non-EU HSMs despite their secure legal status and overall portrayals as economically desirable including in Hungary. While navigating through this conundrum of inclusion and exclusion in the host country discursive terrain, both the EU and non-EU HSMs reject being labelled as migrant and present their identities through references to complex ties of belonging. They adopt the patriotic cosmopolitan identity which constitutes a weaving of universal and particularistic attachments and helps them feel secure in their everyday interactions in the host country.

EU HSMs often lean on the solid backing provided by EU citizenship and Europeanness, which is a way to sidestep stigmatization. The non-EU HSMs emphasize their distinct qualities as individuals and cosmopolitan inclinations more explicitly to counter the bias they perceive around them. Our analysis points out the need for even deeper exploration of the ways in which HSMs' experiences shape their narratives of identity and belonging.
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In Hungary, the new regulations on migration governance introduce stricter residency requirements, higher language proficiency expectations, and more rigorous integration measures. For HSMs, these reforms present both opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, the introduction of targeted visa options aims to facilitate entry and establish a structured pathway to residency for highly qualified professionals. On the other hand, increased bureaucratic obstacles, ambiguous definitions of what qualifies as ‘highly skilled’, and a reliance on company-led initiatives creates uncertainty around migration trajectories and sense of belonging among HSMs.
 
These recent policy changes reshape migrants’ working conditions and how the HSM navigate their sense of belonging within a context of tough migration controls. This ongoing transformation highlights the significance of our article, as it contributes to a broader scholarly conversation on how migration policies shape not only mobility patterns but also the lived experiences and self-identification processes of HSMs. Given the growing politicization of migration, these questions will remain at the forefront of academic debates for years to come.

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Image credit: Photo by Andreeew Hoang on Unsplash

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Read the Identities article:
​Saime Özçürümez, Saime & Sönmez Gioftsios, P.D. (2025). Patriotic cosmopolitans in Budapest: narratives of belonging among highly skilled migrants. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power. DOI: 10.1080/1070289X.2025.2471685

Read further in Identities:

Framing asylum seekers: the uses of national and cosmopolitan identity frames in arguments about asylum seekers​
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The dialectics of urban cosmopolitanism: between tolerance and intolerance in cities of strangers

​What does it mean to be cosmopolitan? An examination of the varying meaningfulness and commensurability of everyday ‘cosmopolitan’ practices