Pailey, Robtel Neajai (2014) The love of liberty divided us here? : factors leading to the introduction and postponement in passage of Liberia's Dual Citizenship Bill. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/20324 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this PhD Thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This PhD Thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this PhD Thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the PhD Thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full PhD Thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD PhD Thesis, pagination. The Love of Liberty Divided Us Here? Factors Leading to the Introduction and Postponement in Passage of Liberia’s Dual Citizenship Bill ROBTEL NEAJAI PAILEY Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD 2014 Department of Development Studies SOAS, University of London 1 Declaration for SOAS PhD Thesis I hAve reAd And understood regulAtion 17.9 of the RegulAtions for students of SOAS, University of London, concerning plAgiArism. I undertAke thAt All the materiAl presented for exAminAtion is my own work And hAs not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or pArAphrAse from the published or unpublished work of Another person hAs been duly Acknowledged in the work which I present for exAminAtion. Signed: Date: 2 Abstract HAving never been formally colonised And more recently emerging from 14 yeArs of intermittent Armed conflict, LiberiA represents A stArk cAse study in citizenship construction becAuse of its idiosyncrAtic history of blAck settler stAte formation. Because ‘Liberian citizenship’ has historically been a tool of exclusion—once bArring women, non-settlers, non-Christians, And non-blacks—it remains A violently contested space of inquiry with newer forms of citizenship now developing in Liberia And within transnAtionAl spAces. In this thesis, I Argue thAt conflict, migrAtion, globAlisAtion And post-war recovery have configured And reconfigured ‘Liberian citizenship’ Across space And time, thereby influencing the introduction And postponement in pAssAge of A duAl citizenship bill proposed in 2008.1 The bill is used As A point of entry to evaluate Liberia’s long-stAnding struggle to construct A unique brand of citizenship that is totalising, tActicAl And timeless. My findings show thAt contemporAry constructions of ‘LiberiAn citizenship’ trAnscend the legAl definition enshrined in the country’s Aliens And NAtionAlity Law—moving from pAssive, identity-bAsed citizenship to more Active, practice- bAsed citizenship. Thus, clAims for And counter-clAims AgAinst duAl citizenship Are manifestAtions of the hybridity of citizenship (identity + prActice). Using actor- oriented AnAlysis As my theoreticAl frAmework, I exAmine the interfAces between 202 Liberian interviewees—nAmely, homelAnd LiberiAns in MonroviA; LiberiAn diasporas in London, WAshington, Freetown, And AccrA; permanent And circulAr returnees; executive And legislAtive members of government, including the four sponsors of the proposed duAl citizenship bill—showing that their conceptualisations of 'Liberian citizenship' differ according to their lived experiences And sociAl locAtions, And ultimately influence pArticipAtion, or lAck thereof, in post-war recovery. Given the dynAmic trends in citizenship configuration Across the globe And pArticulArly in AfricA, my findings fill gAps in the growing body of literAture on citizenship And pArticipAtion in emigrAnt-sending countries. The thesis further contributes to debates about how to rebuild states whose wars were fuelled by the politicisation of identity. 1 If enActed, the bill would enAble LiberiAn citizen women to pAss on citizenship to their children As well As grAnt duAl citizenship to LiberiAns by birth who nAturAlised elsewhere (or hAve AspirAtions to naturAlise), And those born outside of LiberiA to LiberiAn citizen pArents, respectively. 3 Table of Contents Title Page……………………………………………………………………………………………..……….…1 Declaration for SOAS PhD Thesis……..…………………………………………………………...…2 Abstract……………………….……………………………………………………………………………….…3 Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………….…………...…4-6 List of Tables, Figures and Appendices…………………………………………………..…….7-8 Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………………………………………..9 Chapter I: The Love of Liberty Divided Us Here?……...........................................10-25 From Black Settler Migration to Post-war Recovery Proposed Dual Citizenship Legislation Reconstructs ‘Liberian Citizenship’ ‘Liberian Citizenship’ as Both Identity and Practice Researcher Positionality: Navigating Between ‘Insider’ and ‘Outsider’ Access Nine Chapters Examine Citizenship Spaces of Contestation and Convergence Conclusion Chapter II: University Deadlock Shows Competing Worldviews on Citizenship……………………………………………………………………………………………….26-55 Part I: Evolution of Citizenship and the Emergence of Dual Citizenship Citizenship and Nationality as ‘Bounded’ or ‘Unbounded’ Diasporas Challenged by and Challenge to State-Centric Citizenship Diasporic Stances and Dual Citizenship Claims as Mutually Constitutive In Medias Res: Boundedness and Transnationalism Converge Beyond the Legal: Cultural and Social Citizenship Moving from Europe and North America: Citizenship in the Global South ‘Liberian Citizenship’ as Identity, Practice, and a Set of Relations Part II: An Actor-Oriented Analysis from Below Actor-Oriented Analysis Embedded in Social Constructionism Diasporas as Social Actors and Categories of Practice Conclusion Chapter III: From One Room Boxed Houses to Flawless Rooftop Offices in the Field…………………………………………………………………....………………………………...…56-89 Part I: Research Design, Rationale, and Mitigating Biases Rationale for the Selection of Five Urban Field Sites Rationale for the Selection of Six Categories of Liberian Respondents Data Collection Processes and General Trends in Four Urban Centres Abroad Part II: Demographic Composition of Homelanders, Returnees and Diasporas Education, Employment and Income Show Wide-Ranging Social Locations Divergent Life-Worlds Manifested in Citizenship Status and Migration Patterns Conclusion 4 Chapter IV: Will the Real Liberian Citizen Please Stand Up?.........................90-128 Birthplace, Bloodline, and Beyond: How ‘Liberian Citizenship’ Is Currently Conceived of in Liberia and Abroad Time, Talent, and Treasure: How ‘Liberian Citizenship’ Is Practiced Transnationally and Domestically Amongst Unofficial, Anonymised Respondents Citizenship as a Set of Relations between the Liberian State and Diasporas Conclusion Chapter V: Give Me Your Land or I’ll Shoot!......................................................129-171 From Settlement to Unification and Integration Partial and Qualified Citizenship under President Barclay and the ‘Hut Tax’ Limited Full Citizenship under Tubman’s Unification and Integration Policy 1980 Coup Pushes the Boundaries of Liberian Citizen Agency Two Uncivil Wars, the Rupture & Melding of State-Citizen/Citizen-Citizen Relations When Two Elephants Fight, the Grass Suffers Post-War Ideologies Re-Inscribe Pre-War Crisis of Citizenship Post-War Policies on Income, Land Tenure, and Transitional Justice Fuel Conflict The Passport Can Change but the Heart Cannot: Dual Citizenship Claims and Counter-Claims Conclusion Chapter VI: They’re Not Your Citizens…Oh, Yes, They Are!.........................172-209 Contestations Over Mobility and Place Complicate Migration This Land of Migration, Not ‘Liberty’ A Complex Web of Citizenship Configurations Naturalisation as Betrayer and Betrayed No Matter How Long a Rock Stays in a River, It Can Never Turn to Catfish You Na Foreigner! Conclusion Chapter VII: Stopping Firestone and Starting a Citizen Revolution from Below…….......................................................................................................................210-251 ‘Globalisation’ or More of the Same? Globalisation and the Tenets of Territorially Bounded Citizenship From Fernando Po to Open Door: Impact of Liberia’s Capitalist Development on Citizenship Construction Unhinging the Door of Liberia’s Economy to Capital Flows of Trade and Aid Post-War Economic Development Re-Opens the Floodgates of Global Capital Flows Measured Reforms in Trade and Investment Still Harken Back to Open Door The Erosion of State-Citizen Relations through Flows of Aid and Remittances How Human Rights Rhetoric Influences Dual Citizenship Claims for Liberia Dual Citizenship Bill Influenced by Continental Citizenship Reconfigurations Conclusion 5 Chapter VIII: ‘Taylor-Corkrum Nexus’ Undermines Transnational Citizenship…….............................................................................................................252-291 The Great Post-Conflict Makeover Fantasy and War to Peace Alternatives The Dilemmas of State-building and Nation-building From ‘Lifting Liberia’ to ‘Lifting Liberians’—Post-War Recovery and Citizenship Configuration Post-War Transitions, Citizenship and Sirleaf’s Diaspocracy How Diasporas Have Simultaneously Helped and Hindered Post-War Recovery in Liberia Conclusion Chapter IX: 2014 ‘War on Ebola’