Title: Citizenship and People beyond Borders in the Age of Globalisation
Abstract: This paper makes the following three points.1. It argues that globalisation, on the one hand, causes the so-called “citizenship gap, ” i.e., an increase in the number of people on the move combined with a decline in the state capacity to protect its citizens from external threat. On the other hand, it emphasises that globalisation opens up new opportunities and multiple venues through which individuals without citizenship status in the countries of residence can claim their rights.2. This paper suggests four bases on which rights of non-citizen residents can be promoted : external citizenship, aliens' rights, denizenship, and universal personhood. Recently, some academics stress the emergence of “transnational” or “post-national” citizenship on the basis of universal personhood. However, the history of human migration is long and there are other and more established bases for the protection of non-citizen residents. Universal personhood is only the most recent concept and its contribution to the transformation of citizenship should thus be appreciated in combination with developments of the other three bases.3. This paper then focuses on the drafting and ratifying process of the United Nations International Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The process evolved free from territorial constraints. Third parties, whether enlightened professionals or a transnational advocacy network (NGOs and IG0s), identified with the oppressed groups such as illegal migrants and non-citizen residents, and pressed the issue forward. Once the convention becomes effective, its benefits are transferred beyond borders. In this sense, globalisation enables the marginalised to find various transnational agents who are willing to represent them and have their voices heard, indirectly as it might be in the beginning, through them. The enactment of the convention is vital for marginalised non-citizen residents, as it provides recognition of their position in the international arena.