Rethinking the circle of belonging: American citizenship and the Chamorros of Guam.

Abstract

In this dissertation I explore a fault line in the historicity of inclusion and exclusion in the circle of belonging as equal citizens in the United States through a case study of the experience of the Chamorros of Guam as U.S. citizens and as an indigenous people in an unincorporated territory seeking decolonization. The Guam case raises important questions, from an indigenous perspective, about the meaning of citizenship, equality, national identity, and difference which are absent from the American story. The central questions are: What is the significance of the Guam story in terms of theorizing and historicizing national citizenship? In what ways did the grant of formal citizenship serve to integrate the Chamorros of Guam into the national community and to foster a common sense of being American? What is the relation between being a citizen and being indigenous as national identities? These questions are explored using an interdisciplinary narrative approach to analyzing text from multiple sources with attention to the themes of indigenous resistance, formation, and reformation of collective identities. This process is examined diachronically, from pre-contact to the present, and synchronically, through three recent episodes of opposing claims to national political, civil, and social rights. This research debunks the myths of the United States as an immigrant country and as One Nation Under God and reframes Guam's quest for commonwealth as not only about the claiming of individual and collective rights but as creating a political opportunity for the United States to develop an alternate model of belonging, one that values 'deep diversity', including more diverse forms of cultural and political membership, and that accommodates rather than subordinates national identities. I argue that the success of this project of decolonization <italic>with</italic> inclusion requires a renarrativization of the Chamorros as a national, not ethnic, minority. Such a reworking would more clearly differentiate Guam's ambiguous history of 'incorporation' and the desire of the people of Guam for greater autonomy within a mutually negotiated relation with the United States. Rejecting this opportunity in the name of common citizenship is likely to promote growing alienation among some Chamorros in Guam and may jeopardize U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region. A fully integrative, multicultural citizenship for these Americans requires both universal rights, assigned to individuals regardless of group membership, as well as certain group-differentiated rights or special status for the Chamorros.