Since the 1980s, rising Asia has opened up our understanding of liberal citizenship to the forces of a globalizing world economy. Previously, scholars have treated citizenship as an ideal type – a construct of politico-legal and spiritual elements – determined by the nation-state. My approach situates the unstable character of citizenship within the vicissitudes of global capitalism and competitive nations. By investigating citizenship not as a fixed construct, but as a contingent category subject to transnational forces, I emphasize the interaction of newcomers and nation-states in shaping the mutations of citizenship.

Aihwa Ong, Citizenship: flexible, fungible, fragile, Citizenship Studies, 2022.