We are all denizens now: on the erosion of citizenship

This article makes a contribution to the general theory of citizenship. It argues that there is a need for a supplementary concept of ‘denizenship’ to illustrate changes to and erosion of postwar social citizenship as famously described by T H Marshall. The first aim is to construct a more theoretically developed idea of what the concept of a ‘denizen’ means in sociological terms. In its conventional meaning, this term describes a group of people permanently resident in a foreign country, but only enjoying limited partial rights of citizenship. I label this Denizenship Type 1. By contrast, Denizenship Type 2 refers to the erosion of social citizenship as citizens begin to resemble denizens or strangers in their own societies. The argument then is that there is a general convergence between citizenship and denizenship. As such, Denizenship Type 2 provides a possible supplement to the various terms that have recently been proposed, such as flexible citizenship, semi-citizenship, or precariat to describe the attenuated social and economic status of citizens under regimes of austerity and diminished rights and opportunities. As the life chances of citizens decline, they come to resemble denizens. One illustration of this basic transition is to be found in the changing nature of taxation. This observation also allows me simply to observe that the political economy of taxation has been somewhat neglected in the recent literature on citizenship where questions about identity and subjectivity have become more dominant. As a result of these socio-economic changes, the modern citizen is increasingly merely a denizen with thin, fragmented, and fragile social bonds to the public world. The corrosion of the social, economic, political, and legal framework of citizenship offers a new slogan: ‘we are all denizens now.’     

European national news

The regular article tracking developments at the national level in key European countries in the area of IT and communications – co-ordinated by Herbert Smith LLP and contributed to by firms across Europe. This column provides a concise alerting service of important national developments in key European countries. Part of its purpose is to compliment the Journal's feature articles and Briefing Notes by keeping readers abreast of what is currently happening “on the ground” at a national level in implementing EU level legislation and international conventions and treaties. Where an item of European National News is of particular significance, CLSR may also cover it in more detail in the current or a subsequent edition.     

Beyond People Versus Place: A Place-Conscious Framework for Investing in Housing and Neighborhoods

This article argues for a next generation of place-conscious strategies that recognize the importance of neighborhoods in the lives of families, but look beyond narrowly defined neighborhood boundaries to address market-wide opportunities and barriers, capitalize on demographic and market trends underway at the regional scale, and envision alternative models of how neighborhoods can function for their residents. It offers five principles for ongoing experimentation and knowledge building: (a) develop citywide strategies that promote both inclusion and redevelopment; (b) anticipate and plan for residential mobility and neighborhood change; (c) connect residents of poor neighborhoods to city and regional opportunities; (d) capitalize on the coming rental housing boom; and (e) use data for continuous learning and accountability. Advancing this agenda will require enhanced capacity for collaboration and governance at the local levels.     

Mosaics of property: control of village land in West Africa

ABSTRACT

The control of rural land in West Africa deviates strongly from the common notions of private and common property. Most rural peoples are formally borrowers of the land they farm. Results of a detailed study of the property rights attached to all fields within three proximate village territories in the Fakara region of southwestern Niger are presented. This work reveals that property landscapes vary significantly across villages as shaped by the history of settlement and ongoing struggles to redefine property rights. In particular, the politics within village chieftaincies over the definition of common land managed by the chief in contrast to private land held by chieftaincy members has important implications for the use rights held by all villagers. Observations point to an ongoing process of privatization supported by local interpretations of customary law.     

Performing the Self,Performing the Other: gender and racial identity construction in the Nanteuil Cycle

This article focuses on the Old French Nanteuil Cycle of chansons de geste, investigating the nature of medieval identity and its connection to gender, race and religion. The Nanteuil Cycle repeatedly uses disguise as a means of crossing gender boundaries, which allows the repositioning of identity and simultaneously reveals the arbitrariness of cultural categorisation. Although cross-dressing heroines abound in medieval literature, the fourteenth-century Tristan de Nanteuil contains instances where cross-dressing is both gendered and racialised, stretching the malleability of identity to the point that it seems physical form can be altered at will. The article discusses the distortion of genealogies in the Cycle effected by the challenges to the social matrix produced by disguise, with a new relational framework where wives may become fathers and mothers become husbands.     

Self-identification of electronically scanned signatures (ESS) and digitally constructed signatures (DCS)

The use of electronic signatures as a form of identification is increasingly common, yet they have been shown to lack the dynamic features found in online signatures. In this study, handwritten signatures were scanned to produce electronically scanned signatures (ESS) which were then digitally altered to produce digitally constructed signatures (DCS). The ESS and DCS were presented back to participants to identify which were genuine. Only 1% of participants correctly identified all signatures, with a mean score of 57.6% identifications. The lack of self-recognition of ESS raises questions on their reliability and usefulness as means of personal identification.     

Complex Histories and Complex Presentations: Implementation of a Manually-Guided Group Treatment for Traumatized Adolescents

It is consistently recognized that children and adolescents who have repeatedly experienced or witnessed violence are at significant risk for a multitude of lasting difficulties across many domains of functioning. Adolescents in residential settings often have extensive trauma histories and experience profound behavioral, emotional, and interpersonal difficulties. Unfortunately, there are few structured trauma-informed treatments that have been implemented in residential settings, and even fewer that have been evaluated. This article describes the core components of Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS), a manually-guided trauma-informed group treatment, and provides clinical examples within residential facilities for adolescents with emotional and behavioral difficulties and extensive victimization histories. Preliminary data on self-reported emotional, behavioral, and posttraumatic stress symptoms are presented.     

Regenerating the coalfields: Local authorities,the European community and the coalfields community campaign

Abstract

A key feature of the rise of neoliberal politics and policy has been the progressive shift of risk from corporations and national states to the local government, individuals and households. In this article, we argue that, in the UK, ‘great risk shift’ has not only been intensified by recession and austerity but has also been marked by the unevenness of the redistribution of risk and insecurity across scales and places, and between different types of household. In order to capture the differentiated nature of experiences and impacts of recession, risk and insecurity, this article first considers the spatial and temporal dynamics of recession and the great risk shift. It then goes on to localise and embed these dynamics within the city regions and local authorities of Bristol and Liverpool, drawing on a quantitative survey of 1,013 households, across a range of different household types. The survey was segmented geographically and by ten different household types using Ipsos-MORI’s (ACORN) classification of residential neighbourhoods. Whilst the evolving crisis and subsequent austerity measure have been a ‘moving target’ for cities, the local government and households, the household survey was undertaken in the two city regions in the winter of 2011 and explored experiences and impacts since 2008. It will seek to demonstrate the nature, impact and ‘lived experience’ of the ‘risk shift’ during this period and consider the ongoing and broader implications for households, and national and local policymakers.     

Morton's Fork: “Democracy” Versus Neopatrimonialism in Developing Countries

It is argued that conditions for social justice in developing countries are deficient under both state capitalism (“democracy”) and neopatrimonialism. Development assistance is similarly constrained, but it also has shortcomings in relation to “democracy” promotion. Political economy analyses can provide authentic insights into how poor people negotiate for public goods, but such interactions seem unlikely to yield sustainable social justice for most citizens. The assessment calls for a reconfiguration of power relations and a more egalitarian distribution of public goods within and between countries, which is what most people are predisposed to want and are entitled to expect and enjoy.