Upcoming Events

Nov
30
Thu
2023
Who sells? Trends and determinants of citizenship by investment 1960-2022 @ Sala Triaria, Villa Schifanoia
Nov 30 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Who sells? Trends and determinants of citizenship by investment 1960-2022 @ Sala Triaria, Villa Schifanoia
Dive into the ‘Passports-for-purchase’ phenomenon and the reasons why countries offer their citizenship for sale
‘Passports-for-purchase’ have become a global phenomenon in recent years, raising questions on the nature of political membership among scholars, and causing controversy in real-life politics. This practice is enabled through citizenship by investment (CBI), broadly defined as the granting of citizenship in exchange for financial payment or economic investment. CBI can be based on a single generic legal provision in the citizenship law of a country, or a fully developed specific programme. In both cases, there is limited theoretical and empirical knowledge of why countries introduce investor citizenship. To investigate what makes it likely for a country to put its citizenship up for sale and why countries do this in different ways, a theoretical framework has been developed that accounts for the main characteristics of states introducing a subtype of CBI. These claims are then supported with a novel longitudinal and global dataset capturing the existence and main characteristics of CBI programmes between 1960 and 2022.

 

Dec
6
Wed
2023
Knowing ethnicity: classification, pluralism and politics in Kenya @ Sala Triaria, Villa Schifanoia
Dec 6 @ 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Knowing ethnicity: classification, pluralism and politics in Kenya @ Sala Triaria, Villa Schifanoia
Join Samantha Balaton-Chrimes at the next Global Citizenship seminar series

In considering how best to manage diversity in democratic societies, a core and ever-contested question is whether and how identity classifications should be used. In this seminar, I bring to these debates research from a book-length project on the use of bureaucratic, legal and symbolic ethnic classifications in Kenya.

This project analyses the forms of ethnic knowledge produced by the colonial and postcolonial Kenyan states: boundaries, censuses, citizenship registration and legal categories. The analysis results in two core arguments: first, that ethnic pluralism is possible, and classifications can serve that project, and; second, that ethnic knowledge in Kenya is characterised by cultivated vagueness, which is a core part of what makes it capable of contributing to pluralism, and not only competition, division and conflict.

Among other contributions, this work demonstrates how a link between ethnicity and citizenship – symbolically and bureaucratically, if not legally – can facilitate inclusion for stateless and other marginalised groups.

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Jan
25
Thu
2024
Freedom of movement as a citizens’ right: presenting the Free-Move Dataset @ Sala Belvedere, Villa Schifanoia
Jan 25 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Freedom of movement as a citizens’ right: presenting the Free-Move Dataset @ Sala Belvedere, Villa Schifanoia
Join Luuk van der Baaren in this seminar series and explore the evolution, structure, and geographic range of Free Movement of People Regimes (FMPRs).
The 2018 Global Compact on Migration (GCM) highlights the importance of Free Movement of People Regimes (FMPRs) in promoting safe, orderly, and regular migration. These regimes open a mobility pathway, allowing citizens of one country to move and settle in the territory of another state party. As such, gaining a deeper understanding of the evolution, structure, personal and material scope, and geographic range of FMPRs is vital. This research project is unique in being the first to map all bilateral and multilateral FMPRs on a global scale for the period 1992 to 2022. During the seminar, the participants will analyse and compare their provisions and study trends, such as the increase in the number of countries involved, legal instruments utilised, and rights granted to individuals. A particular emphasis is given on the inclusions and exclusions within the regimes and the degree to which the regimes differentiate between particular groups of citizens, as well as citizens and non-citizens.