Full Idea
Extending citizenship to include common social rights was a tool of nation-building, intended in part to construct and consolidate a sense of common national identity and culture.
Gist of Idea
Rights are a part of nation-building, to build a common national identity and culture
Source
Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd edn) [2002], 8)
Book Reference
Kymlicka,Will: 'Contemporary Political Philosophy (2nd ed)' [OUP 2002], p.329
A Reaction
Kymlicka explains a lot of politics and society in terms of the desire of governments to 'build' their nation. You have to make people who are essentially powerless feel that they are at least in some way involved, and benefiting.