Citizenship in Question

"Writing on citizenship tends to take the legal status of citizens for granted.  But what happens when a government refuses to recognize its own citizens? Citizenship in Question uniquely probes how citizenship status has been challenged by various levels of government and the dire consequences that can ensue. Presenting a great deal of new and little-known material, this volume is the first of its kind." - Leti Volpp, Robert D. and Leslie Kay Raven Professor of Law in Access to Justice, University of California, Berkeley

"By focusing on the difficulties citizens can face in proving that they are, in fact, citizens, as well as the frightening consequences that flow from these difficulties, the contributors to this volume offer a disturbing analysis of the precariousness of modern citizenship. Citizenship in Question is one of the most original and important books on citizenship in years." - Matthew J. Gibney, author of The Ethics and Politics of Asylum: Liberal Democracy and the Response to Refugees

"This is one of those books that you wish you could get everyone to read. ... For classes that focus on questions of global migration, political belonging and exclusion, and the powers of the State, this book is a useful resource. Rich in historical facts that help explain how we have reached a point where citizenship often overshadows humanity, Citizenship in Question will be a valuable addition for a required reading list or a personal library. Essential."
  - M. Lecea, Choice

"[A] remarkable contribution that both adds to scholarship on citizenship and challenges some of the inherent assumptions that underpin citizenship studies. ... This sophisticated and wide-ranging volume is essential reading for not only those interested in citizenship, bureaucracy and the state, but also for a wider, non-academic audience." - Kalathmika Natarajan, LSE Review of Books

“The case studies in this volume present a significant human rights challenge. . . . Citizenship allocations may seem as neatly drawn as lines on the map of the world. As this volume demonstrates, there are many contexts in which they are hardly that.” - Peter J. Spiro, Perspectives on Politics

"Powerful. . . . The contributing authors show through numerous examples how citizenship is not self-evident, nor can it be inferred from documents alone, which is another fundamental paradox to citizenship." - Sue-Je Lee Gage, PoLAR

"Essential reading for academics in citizenship law, but also a broader audience grappling with what citizenship and belonging mean in a modern world." - Susi Foerschler, Border Criminologies

"The analysis across the chapters provides an important contribution to debates not only on citizenship, but on race (and race-making), nationalism, statecraft, and political theory, law and history more broadly." - Luke de Noronha, Ethnic and Racial Studies

“[Citizenship in Question] is a major milestone in our understanding of interactions between institutional agents and ordinary people on the edges of citizenship.... The profound analysis of these issues and the sustained focus on personal narratives make this book a welcome addition to the bookshelves of scholars of law, political science, psychology, sociology and anthropology.” - Nikolay Domashev, Anthropology in Action