Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, "The Cosmopolites: The Coming of the Global Citizen" (Columbia Global Reports, 2015)
What does citizenship\u2014an institution that has historically linked identity to place\u2014mean in an age of globalization? This is the question that\xa0Atossa Araxia Abrahamian\xa0investigates in her planet-sprawling book\xa0The Cosmopolites: The Coming of the Global Citizen\xa0(Columbia Global Reports, 2015).\xa0One way Abrahamian answers that question is by examining elites shopping for passports in a global marketplace. But the question also pulls her deep into a grim passports-in-bulk scheme that offloaded stateless people in the oil-rich Persian Gulf to an impoverished island-state off the coast of East Africa (not every cosmopolite was so by choice). Abrahamian also finds an answer in the various ways activists have chipped away at the exclusions of citizenship and have striven for a more egalitarian, connected world.\nThe Cosmopolites\xa0is an astute inquiry into how the rules of the interstate system\u2014the assignment of citizenship by place of birth; border regimes that restrict the movement of people\u2014produce strange, sometimes Kafkaesque realities and how different actors have tried to bend those rules. And Abrahamian, a journalist and senior editor at\xa0The Nation\xa0whose beat is truly global, is well-suited for this endeavor. We talk about the book, her case for studying small states as a way to understanding the world order, and her methodology. I hope you enjoy our interview!\nDexter Fergie is a doctoral student in US and global history at Northwestern University. His research examines the history of ideas, infrastructure, and international organizations.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law