Statelessness: On Almost Not Existing

Statelessness is a concept that challenges the idea that the modern state and citizenship are European inventions. According to Tony C. Brown, statelessness became a central problem for political thought in the New World several hundred years before it was encountered in Europe, and it had far-reaching implications for thinking about the state and being human. The existence of the stateless raised the possibility that state-based existence may not be inevitable, necessary, or ideal, leading to the response of Enlightenment political philosophy.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 312 pages
Publication date: 22 November 2022
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press

A groundbreaking new perspective on statelessness emerges, challenging the conventional notion that the modern state and its citizenship are exclusively European inventions. Similarly, the denial of citizenship through twentieth-century diasporas and statelessness is seen as a distinct phenomenon.

Statelessness presents a novel genealogy, suggesting that Europe's first encounter with widespread statelessness occurred not within its borders or during the twentieth century, as famously asserted by Hannah Arendt. Instead, it took place in the New World, several hundred years earlier.

In his insightful analysis, Tony C. Brown delves into the works of political philosophers ranging from Hobbes to Rousseau to Kant, demonstrating how statelessness emerged as a central concern for political thought from an early stage. These thinkers grappled with the profound implications of statelessness for understanding both the state and human existence.

What Europeans perceived among the "savages" of the Americas was a life devoid of political order, a condition that was deemed less than human. The stateless individuals lived in a state of radical precariousness, bordering on inhumanity, lacking nearly all the achievements and qualities associated with what is considered distinctly human.

Yet, this existence also sparked an unsettling possibility that state-based existence might not be inevitable, necessary, or even ideal. As Brown elucidates, this realization prompted a defensive and aggressive response, giving rise to Enlightenment political philosophy, which continues to shape our thinking on statelessness, particularly in relation to discussions about migrants and Indigenous peoples.

In conclusion, statelessness presents a transformative perspective on the history and implications of citizenship and statelessness. By challenging the traditional narratives, it prompts us to reevaluate our understanding of the state, human nature, and the possibilities for alternative forms of political and social organization.

Dimension: 216 x 140 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781517912420