Constructing Citizenship in Post-Soviet Contested States

This book explains how the phenomenon of citizenship has been constructed in three contested states in the former Soviet space.

Citizenship is a source of (legal) identity that provides access to resources, rights, and recognition. However, the disputed nature of contested states leads to their citizens being subject to multiple (conflicting) citizenship regimes. Drawing on legal analysis, interviews, and survey data, this book sheds light on the complex relationship between contested statehood, sovereignty, state recognition, citizenship regimes, and the politics of belonging. Using the lenses of multiplicity and human/state security, the book explores and explains how the phenomenon of citizenship has been constructed in three post-Soviet contested states: Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transnistria. The book finds that the contested nature of these states requires their citizens to navigate between the citizenship regimes of the contested, claimant, patron, and third states. Experiences of citizenship change depending on physical location, determinations by different states as to what legal status(es) an individual holds, and legislative and political changes. Meanwhile, at the state level, citizenship is used as a state- and nation-building tool to enhance ethnodemographic security by excluding undesired groups and including desired ones. Lastly, the book emphasises the normalisation discourse among (citizens of) contested states regarding their citizenship and security. This discourse evidences a broader pattern among contested states, highlighting that their state- and nation-building projects are not markedly different from those of recognised states.

This book will be of much interest to students of statehood, de facto states, citizenship, Eastern European politics, and international relations.