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Who should be included? non-citizens, conflict and the constitution of the citizenry

The challenge of citizenship in ethnically diverse societies

Authors: M. J. Gibney
Publisher: Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity, CRISE, Oxford University, 2006

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This article explores how citizenship is constructed in ethnically diverse societies. The paper argues that the distribution of citizenship is likely to impact upon societal stability and the likelihood of conflict.

The paper discusses the following:

  • how individuals, both on their own and as members of ethnic groups, become non-citizens and the factors that often force them to remain so over time in the country in which they reside
  • why it is important for those interested in horizontal inequalities to consider how the issue of citizenship is distributed across a society and particularly across ethnic groups
  • what it means to distribute citizenship fairly
  • the challenges associated with citizenship reform

The paper also highlights challenges for citizenship reform:

  • the idea of the pre-social rights-bearing individual lacks roots in many post-colonial societies where group memberships have proven far more significant in determining access to rights, privileges and security
  • exclusion from citizenship often serves powerful interests. Defining the demos in one way or another may dramatically change the balance of power in many states, empowering some actors and weakening others