Although statelessness has existed as long as there have been states, carries with it significant practical difficulties for individuals and creates substantial theoretical problems, Political Theory has been slow to address its implications. Statelessness is more than a migration question - it means being a noncitizen everywhere. This edited book will open the discussion of how political theorists can begin directly to address the question of statelessness.

There are some groups that are traditionally stateless. Other individuals fall into statelessness because of a mismatch of citizenship laws. Still others find themselves stateless because of international events, such as State collapse or changes in law. One particularly common way to be stateless is from a lack of birth registration.

The implications of this are different across global contexts and it will be necessary for this book to take into account both the differences and the similarities between these various contexts. This volume will offer an initial step to bringing the discussion of statelessness into the mainstream Migration and Political Theory discourse. The sorts of concerns this raises are (but are not restricted to):

  • What challenges and dilemmas does statelessness, and the right of stateless persons, raise for State-based theories?
  • Can these challenges be addressed through state-based responses to statelessness, or is more radical change needed?
  • What kinds of responses to these challenges are offered by post-national or transnational approaches ?
  • What can we learn from statelessness about the worth and relevance of citizen and noncitizen statuses in political theory?
  • Can stateless persons be political actors? Can they be members of a constituency? Is there any sense to the concept of a stateless constituency?
  • What is the meaning/relevance of the ‘right to have rights’ today?

A topic such as statelessness cannot, however, be addressed adequately without an understanding of its practical instantiation and its consequences. This book is, therefore, seeking both theoretical approaches to the subject and social-scientific analyses, as well as accounts which combine both. It is hoped that the chapters will be contributed by anthropologists, historians, lawyers, political scientists, sociologists and others who can contribute to uncovering the political theoretic problems involved and the way in which political theorists can contribute to solving the practical difficulties.

It seeks contributions addressing topics such as (but not limited to):

  • The legal and historical realities of statelessness;
  • The meanings of de facto and de jure statelessness and their implications;
  • The relationship between the different ways to become stateless, and whether there are relevant theoretical differences;
  • Experiences and practices of stateless persons;
  • Responses of states and other international actors to statelessness; Access to a status of statelessness vs access to citizenship or other statuses;
  • The implications of statelessness for post-national and transnational discourses.

Notes for Potential Contributors:

If you are interested in contributing to this volume, please send:

  • An abstract of maximum 300 words
  • Your full contact information (full name, title, postal address, email, telephone)
  • A biographical text of maximum 150 words

In a Word document to  bloom  at unu.edu, phillcole40 at yahoo.co.uk and k.e.tonkiss at bham.ac.uk by the end of the day (all time zones) on Friday 7th November 2014.

The final chapter would need to be submitted some time in July 2015, and be of a maximum of around 8,000 words.