All Ears to the Ground
among many other contexts. 4 Ground level resistance strategies that respond
specifically to citizenship violence, however, are yet to be explored in depth. This
article aims to contribute to statelessness and citizenship scholarship by outlining
a framework to explore resistance.
The responses to statelessness by affected people and communities vary and
adapt according to the actions of state authorities and the perceived intentions of
state actors. International actors often develop programming according to national
level priorities. To a lesser extent, they also respond to the actions and forms of
resistance of affected communities on the ground. Both national and ground level
actions can then influence the development of interventions to combat
statelessness by international organisations and non-governmental organisations
(‘NGOs’). In the past decade, there has been increased participation of people
affected by statelessness in shaping international interventions, and more
emphasis within the sector on these interventions being responsive and
accountable to affected communities.5 Better understanding of how communities
respond when their citizenship and rights are under threat can further efforts
towards responsive and accountable international programming.
Taking a socio-legal approach, this article contributes to this knowledge base,
focusing on the collective and organised modes of resistance to citizenship
stripping and violence by directly affected communities. Not all forms of
statelessness can be attributed to state abuses of power. This article specifically
examines situations where communities of resistance seek to highlight the misuse
of state power and call for social justice. It considers situations in which state
authorities have weaponised their citizenship laws, ID systems and administrative
systems to exclude, segregate or expel people based on their membership of a
group. The three case studies explore Rohingya, Kurdish and Palestinian
experiences of citizenship violence. In each of these contexts, state authorities
have practiced mass citizenship stripping and violence and affected communities
have developed diverse strategies of collective resistance.
The article is divided into two Parts: Mass Citizenship Stripping and
Citizenship Violence; and Resistance. In the first, it identifies five key methods
through which states weaponise their citizenship regimes: re-categorisation of
4
5
See, eg, Eve Hayes De Kalaf, Legal Identity, Race and Belonging in the Dominican Republic
(Anthem Press 2021); Bronwen Manby, ‘The Sustainable Development Goals and “legal
identity for all”: “First, do no harm”’ (2021) 139 World Development 105343; Keren
Weitzberg, Margie Cheesman, Aaron Martin and Emrys Schoemaker, ‘Between Surveillance
and Recognition: Rethinking Digital Identity in Aid’ (2021) 8 Big Data & Society 1; Mizue
Aizeki, Matt Mahmoudi and Coline Schupfer, Resisting Borders and Technologies of
Violence (Haymarket Books 2024); Richard Banégas and Armando Cutolo, ID Wars in Côte
d’Ivoire: A Political Ethnography of Identification and Citizenship (Oxford University Press
2024); Natalie Brinham, Citizenship and Genocide Cards: IDs, Statelessness and Rohingya
Resistance in Myanmar (Routledge 2024) (‘Citizenship and Genocide Cards’); Elizabeth L
Rhoads and Ritanjan Das, ‘The Specter of Potential Foreigners: Revisiting the Postcolonial
Citizenship Regimes of Myanmar and India’ (2024) 56(2) Critical Asian Studies 155; Silvia
Masiero, Unfair ID (SAGE Publications 2024).
One example of this change is the European Network on Statelessness’ (‘ENS’)
community-led policy for external organisations, which is available here: ENS, ‘External
Community Speaker Policy’ (Policy, 13 June 2022) <https://www.statelessness.eu/
updates/publications/ens-external-community-speaker-policy>,
archived
at
<perma.cc/QT9Y-NT7A> (‘External Community’). Another example is the establishment
of the Global Statelessness Fund which aims to make funding cycles more responsive and
accountable to people affected by statelessness: Global Statelessness Fund (Web Page,
October 2024) <https://statelessnessfund.org/>, archived at <perma.cc/4K7W-JTZX>
(‘Global Statelessness Fund’).
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