After Postnational Citizenship: Constructing the Boundaries of Inclusion in Neoliberal Contexts

Abstract

AbstractProfound changes in global exchanges of goods, ideas, and labor in the 20th century required scholars to critically engage with notions of citizenship, belonging and inclusion. Scholars of globalization initially posited the development of a postnational citizenship, wherein rights are attached to individuals as human beings rather than as members of particular nation‐states. This article questions these theories in light of the evolution of neoliberalism in global markets and the worsening problems of the displaced and rightless. We show that, with the prioritization of market participation as a condition of full inclusion, personhood is not sufficient for belonging or claims‐making. We highlight the effects of the new ‘market citizenship’ on both migrant groups and native‐born minorities, whose inclusion is increasingly based on economic success rather than legal citizenship. We consider the literature on the ways that neoliberalism builds upon historical economic inequalities to distribute citizenship rights to those individuals deemed productive within the current economic system. Finally, we demonstrate that the current citizenship regime, while not anchored in the nation‐state, is very different from early formulations of postnational citizenship. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.