Seeing citizenship: singularity, multiplicity, complexity in times of crisis

ABSTRACT

The Covid-19 pandemic brought to light the phenomenon of simultaneous and widespread activation of different ‘faces’ of citizenship. Citizenship as restriction played a major part in enacting government-imposed restrictions to mobility and public interactions; and citizenship as social protection was essential criteria for the allocation of social benefits. At the same time, citizenship also inspired radical opposition to governments’ impositions and experts’ opinion; and, citizenship as care reflected the enactment of collective identity, forged on principles of reciprocity and mutual aid. This article contends the concurrent activation of disparate ‘faces’ of citizenship during the pandemic provides an opportunity to consider both the distinctive character of each ‘face’ as well as the points of dynamic overlap and co-constitution amongst them. Building on studies of complex systems, the article argues that how we see citizenship influences the types of questions and analysis we set to explore. Using the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the article lays out an initial approach to seeing citizenship from the vantage point of complex integrative thinking. Upholding both the singularity and multiplicity of the different ‘faces’, the article engages in preliminary examination of both their distinctiveness as well as points of overlap, co-constitution, and synergy.

KEYWORDS:

• Faces of citizenship
• complex integrative analysis
• kaleidoscopic multiplicity
• covid-19 pandemic

Author note

The author is grateful to Engin Isin and Ozlem Altan for their careful reading of the manuscript. Bio: Dr. Marina Kaneti is Assistant Professor in International Affairs at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. She draws on visual methods in order to explore questions of global development, including migration, rights, and environmental governance. Dr. Kaneti completed her BA and MSW degrees at Columbia University and her PhD at the New School for Social Research. Prior to her academic career, Dr. Kaneti worked as equity trader on Wall Street and as project manager at the United Nations Development Programme.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. I thank Engin Isin for prompting me to develop this point.

2. Field research February – December 2021.