Seeking for Alternatives

This new Thematic Paper produced by the Global Platform for the Right to the City wants to shed light on the potential and need for alternative forms of citizenship. Formal citizenship fosters a narrative of universalism, that all citizens have equal rights and obligations, but citizenship is “differentially experienced” by women, men, elders, youngsters, racialized persons, indigenous peoples, LGTBQIA+ communities, migrants… We sense an urgent need for going beyond the traditional top-down and state-centric perspective of citizenship, as citizenship should not be an instrument for exclusion but an including one.

Alternatively, we aim to discuss and foster new interpretations of citizenships that are conceptualized from a bottom-up approach, go beyond nationalistic understandings, and acknowledge diversity within equality. In today’s globalized world, we call to detach citizenship from “state-centric” perspectives and be more sensitive to the reality on the local ground.