http://infinitecitizenship.org

2014
Infinitecitizenship.org

Are we facing a scarcity of citizenship?
Saskia Sassen’s hobby since 1996 is to count the rights we loose as human beings, mostly to the advantage of multinational corporations. Nation states find themselves in a tricky situation too. Their sovereignty is today jeopardised by the power exercised by private organisations, which operate across international and transnational jurisdictions in order to gain the maximum profit. If it is true that the states remain the main infrastructure through which citizens can exercise any political influence – and be guaranteed their rights – countries behave increasingly like corporations, by selling their products: passports, statuses, citizenships, and resident permits (see e.g. citizenship by investment). Many individuals cope with precariousness by migrating from one place to another. A strong dichotomy exists though, between the flexibility forced onto individuals and the rigidity of national systems and territories.

In the current climate of austerity, of serial cuts on welfare costs, how can an individual get the most out of the existing and partitioned national systems? A possible answer might lie in playing with their status. Citizenship can be conceived as granted access to different resources. “InfiniteCitizenship. org” speculates on the creation of a non-commercial platform for peer to- peer citizenship exchange.

Based on the model of house swapping, “InfiniteCitizenship.org” enables its members to temporarily and mutually exchange their citizenship and statuses. Citizenship, in fact, offers access to a variety of resources, such as public welfare and aids; rights,such as voting, safety, mobility; but implies duties as well, such as taxation and conscription; and legacies, as for example a public debt. InfiniteCitizenship.org, in its speculative form, makes use – and stresses – dynamics and features from the rapidly developing vocabulary of the “sharing economy”, to find ways to overcome the limitations of current national systems.
www.infinitecitizenship.org

Pictures from above:
– Mixed Passports in collaboration with Fiona Du Mesnildot