Citizenship in the Line of Fire: Protective Accompaniment, Proxy Citizenship, and Pathways for Transnational Solidarity in Guatemala

Abstract

In the battle for political space in postconflict Guatemala, protective accompaniment presents prospects for actualizing citizenship rights. I use the term proxy citizenship to refer to the potential for limited rights transfer between citizen bodies, privileged and bare. Foreign accompaniment volunteers can influence the dynamics of conflict by being present and bearing witness, therein supporting the (re)placement of local human rights defenders in the politico-juridical sphere as rights-bearing citizens empowered to testify against impunity. I situate my own experiences in Guatemala within the broader literature on radical democratic theory and geographies of citizenship, examining the possibilities and problems associated with exploiting the differential “worth” of citizen bodies. Taking up the claim that “presence signals the possibility of a politics,” I argue that putting citizenship in the line of fire may open modest but strategic pathways in transnational solidarity.