Theorising noncitizenship: concepts, debates and challenges

Abstract

Existing political theory, particularly which deals with justice and/or rights, has long assumed citizenship as a core concept. Noncitizenship, if it is considered at all, is generally defined merely as the negation or deprivation of citizenship. As such, it is difficult to examine successfully the status of noncitizens, obligations towards them, and the nature of their role in political systems. This article addresses this critical gap by defining the theoretical problem that noncitizenship presents and demonstrating why it is an urgent concern. It surveys the contributions to the special issue for which the article is an introduction, drawing on cross-cutting themes and debates to highlight the importance of theorising noncitizenship due to both the problematic gap that exists in the theoretical literature, and the real world problems created as a result of noncitizenship which are not currently successfully addressed. Finally, the article discusses key future directions for the theorisation of noncitizenship.

Keywords:

• Citizenship
• human rights
• noncitizenship
• migration
• political theory

Acknowledgements

The editors would like to thank Peter Nyers for his enthusiastic support for, and assistance in the production of, this Special Issue. They would also like to thank some individuals who helped to make this volume possible, in alphabetical order: Megha Amrith, Luis Cabrera, Theodora Christou, Zaid Clor, Phillip Cole, Maria Ferreira, Demelza Jones, Lindsey Kingston, Diletta Lauro, Pedro F Marcelino, Maria Luisa Sánchez Barrueco, Ninna Nyberg Sørensen, Julia Mourão Permoser, Nando Sigona and Annette Zimmermann. The editors are also grateful to participants at the ‘Theorising Noncitizenship’ MANCEPT Political Theory Workshop in September 2013, and at the ‘Theorising Noncitizenship’ panel at the ECPR Conference in September 2014, both of which offered important moments of critical reflection and discussion in the process of bringing this collection to publication. Finally, Bloom would like to acknowledge the support of the Institute on Globalization, Culture and Mobility at the United Nations University, where she was a research fellow at the beginning of this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. ‘denizen, n. and adj.’ OED Online. December 2014. Oxford University Press. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/49985?rskey=VTvOqo&result=1 (accessed February 20, 2015).