Originally published on the CGS blog on July 19, 2013.
What is citizenship? While Merriam Webster states that citizenship signifies the “status of being a citizen” or “membership in a community,” those definitions say little about what exactly citizenship connotes. As someone who has never traveled outside of the United States, my citizenship situation is unambiguous: I was born in the United States, I have lived here my entire life, and therefore I am a U.S. citizen. However, I have friends with dual citizenship, tri-citizenship, recent citizenship, or living in the U.S. without U.S. citizenship, so I know the situation is much more complicated in reality.
While I want to avoid making a judgment on the Edward Snowden situation in its entirety, I do think it suggests some interesting points about the nature of citizenship in today’s increasingly globalized world. Modern globalization sees the state and its sovereignty challenged by multiple factors: an increased role of multilateral institutions, intensified movements of people, the growth of international civil society, and the emergence of global cities.
Most of these changes stem from our ever-improving technology. For example, whereas in the past, an American businessman would conduct business over phone, perhaps making a trip every few months or so, it is now feasible for him to spend his weeks in Tokyo and his weekends with his family in Phoenix. This man could be a U.S. citizen, but actually spend more time in Japan. Part of the implications of reduced state sovereignty is that each individual state has less power over its members and the relationship of those members to other states. Because of this, the nature of citizenship itself is evolving.
Snowden’s position is an example of the problems of defining citizenship in this new global era. As professor and political writer Richard Falk explains, citizenship becomes salient when you don’t have one. This is the case with many refugees, including Snowden. While Snowden is technically still a U.S. citizen, he has had his passport revoked, effectively barring him from returning to the United States. Originally staked out in Hong Kong, he has since moved to Russia and is applying for temporary asylum there. He has also been offered political asylum in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, but has been unable to travel to those locations. Snowden, a U.S. citizen, is not allowed to live in the United States, yet could theoretically live in any of the four other countries.
So, I posit again, what is citizenship? If we use the definition of “membership in a community,” Snowden would clearly not have U.S. citizenship. He is no longer welcome in the American community. Technically, he is a “citizen” of Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador because they have all welcomed him into their respective communities. Understandably, Snowden’s is a uniquely high profile case, but I think the uncertainties it brings up will only continue to expand. In an era when hopping on a plane to travel overseas is part of a daily routine for some, and the number of people living or traveling in many different countries continues to increase, I think we might need a new definition of citizenship that can keep up with globalization.
Perhaps the day is not too distant when everyone, not just members of GlobalSolutions.org, will simply consider themselves citizens of the world.
