Asymmetric Territorial Citizenship

Abstract

Many forms of differentiated citizenship have been implemented by states in different regions and epochs. This article presents a novel category: “asymmetric territorial citizenship,” which is a type of differentiation that within the same state establishes categories of citizenship, some of which are fragmentary or inferior, and thus essentially creating horizontal categories of territorialized state membership, or territorialized citizenship regimes. The existence of asymmetry within the same state shatters the commonplace expectation that citizenship is unitary, equal, and homogenous. Empirically, asymmetric citizenship originates in the practices and policies of imperial powers in some of their territories and in the relations of domination and control of colonialism. But, asymmetric citizenship also exists today in the U.S unincorporated territories (and, in particular, in Puerto Rico). I examine the creation of this novel category by the Insular Cases and its progeny, and relate it to the fundamental elements of citizenship.