Citizenship by Dimitry Kochenov

Author:Dimitry Kochenov [Kochenov, Dimitry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: status; imperialism; discrimination; renuniciation; naturalization; democracy; super-citizen; tribalism
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 2019-11-12T00:00:00+00:00

Punishing traitors almost always translates into smashing dissent and trivializing it.

Not everyone is a hero, of course. The best way to avoid the choice between individual judgment and extreme violence is to get rid of the citizenship status, should the option be available. Albert Einstein’s citizenship story is an excellent illustration of a masterful use of this option: the great American left his native Kingdom of Württemberg in 1896 to rid himself of its nationality to make sure no draft call disrupted his life and his studies, moved to Switzerland, and naturalized there, to proceed to do the same in the United States in 1940, fleeing Nazi Germany.20 The legendary singer-songwriter Carlos Gardel offers another example: if you ask an Argentinian friend why she thinks the great Gardel lied about his place of birth and registered in 1920 as a Uruguayan, the ensuing heated conversation could go on all night. The likely answer, as a biographer claims, was to avoid the military obligations of Gardel’s French and Argentinian citizenships.21 Those like Gardel, Einstein, and countless others who brave the glorified complacency narrative are usually despised by the state and, unquestionably, by the “good citizens” who inhabit and reinforce the official narrative. Many states make it difficult to renounce citizenship before fulfilling military service or other duties, where these are present. Any American who is thought to have renounced citizenship to avoid paying taxes becomes “inadmissible” to the country.22

It is true, however, that exit is usually not an option or made extremely difficult. Citizens have to obey, blending in, or suffer: they must turn out for elections in Belgium even if they have no interest in Belgian politics; man block-posts in the settlements in Gaza, even if they consider the Israeli occupation illegal; refrain from protesting against SS veteran marches in the middle of Latvia’s capital, even if they believe the SS to be a despicable criminal organization. Holding the photograph of SS troops killing Jews in Latvia next to the street where the honored SS veterans were due to march in 2017 was condemned by a Latvian court in the case of Šaripovs as a clear departure from good citizenship ideals:

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