ABSTRACT

Since the 2008 financial crisis, more and more states have started to “sell” citizenships and residence permits to the global economic elite in return for investments. This trade is mediated by transnational firms in the investment citizenship industry, who help governments design and reform the programmes, and assist the wealthy in applying for them. The objective of this article is to explore the activities of these firms, that until now have been largely neglected in research. In order to understand their agency and the forms of power that they are able to exert, this article engages IR theory and sociological network theory on intermediaries. It is argued that investment citizenship firms take on two different intermediary roles at the same time, as regulatory intermediary and as broker. The article finds that the firms are sometimes able to amount a considerable power vis-à-vis state actors; and that they also contribute to the decoupling of the global elite from ties to precise localities, in the process also transforming the purpose of statehood. The investment citizenship firms are hence consequential actors in global governance, and their activities merit more research attention.

摘要

自2008年金融危机以来，越来越多的国家开始向全球经济精英“出售”公民身份和居留许可，以换取投资。这种贸易由投资公民行业的跨国公司调解，它们帮助政府设计和改革计划，并协助富人申请。本文的目的是探讨这些公司的活动，直到现在，这些活动在研究中基本上被忽视了。为了理解他们的能动性和他们能够发挥的权力形式，本文引入了关于中介的 IR 理论和社会学网络理论。有人认为，投资公民公司同时承担两种不同的中介角色，即监管中介和经纪人。文章发现，公司有时能够对国家行为者拥有相当大的权力；并且它们还有助于将全球精英与特定地点的联系脱钩，在此过程中也改变了国家地位的目的。因此，投资公民公司是全球治理的重要参与者，他们的活动值得更多研究关注。