The partialization (and parcelization) of citizenship?

Abstract

In 2016, Turner argued that ‘we are all denizens now’. Taking this argument and the proliferation of quasi-citizenship as a starting point, this article argues that such an argument masks the enduring importance and exclusionary power of citizenship. This article considers quasi-citizenship as a more precarious and less secure status than citizenship, but less precarious and more secure status than non-citizenship. Taking the UK EU Settlement Scheme as a case-study, the article exposes the realities of quasi-citizenship as an intermediary status that seeks to exclude migrants from citizenship. Overall, the article argues that expanding quasi-citizenship policies suggest 1) the weakening of citizenship as a status, via offering increasingly lesser and fewer rights (partialization), 2) the hardening borders of citizenship, and 3) the parcelization of citizenship, with the gulf of differentiation increasing between those who have secure access to the rights and status of full citizenship and those who do not.