Multiple Nationality and the (Ab)Use of Citizenship: Identity, Opportunity and Risk

The very end of the 20th Century and the beginning of the 21st have brought about several marked changes to citizenship policy and practice; not only are we witnessing increasing instances of de facto and de jure dual citizenship, with around half of all sovereign states accepting it in one form or another (Faist, 2001), but the institutionalisation of EU Citizenship heralded the addition of a further level of analysis, as well as a change in value of the citizenship of its member states. Similarly, the creation of new forms of partial or light citizenship such as the Turkish Pink Card and the Indian NRI scheme highlight the introduction of other less-than-citizenship categories. The increasing number and complexity of these citizenship constellations (Bauböck, 2010) generate a pressing need to comprehend the altered meanings, roles and approaches to citizenship. This paper will endeavour to address these issues both theoretically and practically by analysing the topic in relation to identity, opportunity and risk.