5SSG2065_CW2
5SSG2065 – Cities and Citizenship
“Cities usually drop out of our analysis because we tend to present globalization,
especially of labour, capital, and communication, as neutralizing the importance of
place, indeed of rendering it irrelevant. … such dematerialization is mistaken since
place remains fundamental to the problems of membership in society, and that cities
are especially privileged sites for considering the current renegotiations of
citizenship.” (Holston and Appadurai 1996: 188)
Using academic literature, critically explore the above argument in terms
of global cities.
06/05/20
70/100
Word count: 2500
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Using academic literature, critically explore Holston and
Appadurai’s (1996: 188) argument in terms of global cities
Introduction:
The modern world is described by many geographers as increasingly globalising,
becoming smaller and smaller through the exchange of goods, cultures and
information (van Kempen, 2007). Globalisation is often referred to as one of the most
influential and unavoidable phenomena in the history of mankind (Kuqi and Hasanaj,
2018). It affects every part of everyday life with very few nations being immune to its
influence. The homogenising of nations is visible through modernization investments
like high-rise corporate office towers to international language use and
indistinguishable city streets (Zukin, 2009).
Globalisation pulls into question the saliency of the nation-state as the core of
society. As global economies and societies renegotiate the role of nation-states and
citizenship, scholars are turning towards the city as a locus for belonging (Varsanyi,
2017). This is unsurprising given that the very origin of the word citizen dates back to
the Latin term civitas, meaning city (Dagger, 2000). The city has been the focus for
citizenship and social membership dating back to the Ancient Greek civilisations and
has remained a stronghold through centuries of global political and social upheaval.
Cities are some of the most important sites to consider during this age of change for
several reasons. Holston and Appadurai’s (1996: 188) argument notes how cities
‘are especially privileged sites for considering the current renegotiations of
citizenship’. This is most true in global cities as they are particularly susceptible to
globalisation and host the largest range of types of citizenship experiences. They act
separately from the nation-state and often host different customs and politics
(Holston and Appadurai, 1996). Global cities are political, trading, banking and
financial hubs and are often home to the wealthiest people in a country. They tend to
be a focal point for art and culture, and draw in large crowds of tourists like Paris,
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London and Tokyo (Earnest, 2007). These global cities are landscapes quite unlike
any other, with unique amalgamations of social groups, classes and cultures (Curtis,
2010). Citizenship in these cities, therefore, sees the emergence of new identities
and the contestation of rights; it is an independent concept known as ‘urban
citizenship’ (Rogers and Bailey, 2013). Urban citizenship is within the space
“between the city and citizenship” (Varsanyi, 2006). This is a direct modern
renegotiation of citizenship taking place in cities across the world.
It is a source of debate as to whether cities remain central to studies of citizenship or
if homogenisation and globalisation has indeed rendered them irrelevant. To explore
this argument sufficiently, it’s important to unpack different ideas of citizenship, the
significance of global cities, the role of globalisation and the importance of citizenship
within cities throughout. This essay will explore traditional and contemporary ideals of
citizenship, issues of transnational and global citizenship and begin to understand
how cities stay pivotal to these arguments despite their changing roles and
landscapes.
Traditional and Contemporary Citizenship:
In traditional ideologies of citizenship, the State is often at the core granting and
dismissing claims to a set of universal rights (Oldfield, 1990). The entitlement of
these rights typically come from prolonged residence or birth in a city or nation
(Birkvad, 2019). Most nations enforce a jus sanguinis policy in which a child is only
granted citizenship if the parents are also citizens of the nation in question. This
contrasts the more antiquated jus soli used by the United States of America, which is
a birthright policy (de Groot and Vonk, 2018). These are merely the surface of the
two laws and extend further to conditional and unconditional variations of acquisitions
of citizenship (Wells-Greco, 2015). Many of these historical systems and laws are
accredited back to Ancient Athens, where citizenship is thought to have originated
(Rosivach and Manville, 1992). Athens is often considered the home of democracy
and membership into the Athenian polis was jus sanguinis, coining the term and
birthing citizenship into the cityscape (Gorman, 1992). This forms the basis of
Holston and Appadurai’s argument of cities once being pivotal to studies of
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