What the study found
The authors argue that overlapping crises are putting pressure on citizenship from both outside and inside. They describe a conflict over how broad citizenship should be and how strongly it should be tied to democratic equality and resilience.
Why the authors say this matters
The study suggests that transnational interdependence, war, climate change, and the mobility they trigger are pushing democratic states toward more open membership rules while also fueling backlash. The authors conclude that this makes it important to rethink citizenship so that it is both more just in access and more democratically robust.
What the researchers tested
This is an introduction to a special issue on citizenship in times of polycrisis. The authors trace the conflict through the history of political ideas, examine its present-day intensifications, and open a discussion about reasons and opportunities for expanding and reinvigorating citizenship.
What worked and what didn't
The authors say that external pressures such as higher migration flows, growing multiculturalism, and transnational belonging make hard insider-outsider boundaries harder to sustain. They also say that internal pressures such as democratic backsliding and oligarchic tendencies weaken citizenship’s integrative function, while backlash can increase fragmentation and polarization.
What to keep in mind
The abstract presents a conceptual argument rather than reporting a test of a specific intervention or dataset. It does not describe empirical methods, measurements, or limitations in detail.
Key points
- The authors argue that polycrisis is pressuring citizenship from both external and internal directions.
- They say migration, multiculturalism, and transnational belonging make hard insider-outsider boundaries harder to maintain.
- They say democratic backsliding and oligarchic tendencies weaken citizenship’s integrative function.
- The authors suggest that war, climate change, and mobility are pushing states toward more open membership rules while also provoking backlash.
- They conclude that citizenship may need to be both more just in access and more democratically robust.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Polycrisis pressures citizenship toward greater openness and resilience
- Image credit:
- Photo by StephanieAlbert on Pixabay
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