Offshore Citizens: Permanent Temporary Status in the Gulf

When it comes to extending citizenship to certain groups, why might ruling elites say neither 'yes' nor 'no', but 'wait'? The dominant theories of citizenship tend to recognize clear distinctions between citizens and aliens; either one has citizenship or one does not. This book shows that not all populations are fully included or expelled by a state; they can be suspended in limbo - residing in a territory for protracted periods without accruing citizenship rights. This in-depth case study of the United Arab Emirates uses new archival sources and extensive interviews to show how temporary residency can be transformed into a permanent legal status, through visa renewals and the postponement of naturalization cases. In the UAE, temporary residency was also codified into a formal citizenship status through the outsourcing of passports from the Union of Comoros, allowing elites to effectively reclassify minorities into foreign residents.

Author: Noora Lori
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 08/22/2019
Pages: 302
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 9.28h x 6.46w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9781108498173

Review Citation(s):
Choice 05/01/2020

About the Author
Lori, Noora: - Noora Lori is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University. She was a scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies and received the 2014 Best Dissertation Award from the Migration and Citizenship section of the American Political Science Association.