Elite Mobility in an Unequal World: The Commodification of Citizenship

• In Event: Elite Mobility and Highly Skilled Migration

Abstract

What explains the emergence and spread of investor citizenship programs, and what does the expansion of monetized membership mean for citizenship in general? This paper investigates an under-studied yet growing avenue for naturalization available to the very wealthy: jus pecuniae, or the acquisition of citizenship through financial contribution. Drawing on two years of qualitative fieldwork, it specifies the distinctive properties of citizenship as a commodity: the state plays a dual role as both sole producer and market regulator, and – contrary to conventional accounts – the commodity’s value is determined primarily by what it gains an incumbent outside the state. On this score, citizenship’s use-value is a function of patterns of global inequality and insecurity, alongside regional alliances and bilateral agreements. To explain the development of citizenship as a commodity, I disaggregate the principal forms of jus pecuniae and its attendant innovations. I isolate the defining features of citizenship by investment programs, situate them within the broader field of immigrant investor visas and discretionary economic citizenship, and analyze how these factors conditioned its emergence. I conclude by identifying important implications that challenge common understandings of citizenship in two domains: inequality and territoriality.

Author

• Kristin Surak, University of London, SOAS