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Merit as a racial device:the ambiguous case of citizenship and residence by investment
Ganty, Sarah
Ganty, Sarah
Title / Series / Name
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
Publication Volume
Publication Issue
Pages
Author
Editors
Keywords
citizenship
investment
Merit
neo-racialisation
race
residency
Demography
Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
investment
Merit
neo-racialisation
race
residency
Demography
Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
Files
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14018/29079
Abstract
This article interrogates the role of merit as a criterion for allocating public and social goods, with particular emphasis on immigration and citizenship regimes in the Global North. Although portrayed as a vehicle of de-ethnicisation/-racialisation, merit in practice operates through implicit and indirect mechanisms of ethnicisation and racialisation–which I term 'neo-racialisation'. As such, merit proves both legally and normatively problematic, perpetuating historical ‘blood hierarchies’ under a modern and ostensibly neutral guise. Analysing citizenship-by-investment (CBI) and residency-by-investment (RBI) programmes in the European Union, the Article reveals a paradox at the heart of meritocracy critiques: while merit-based selection schemes are embedded in ethno-racial hierarchies, opposition to such schemes is itself frequently embedded in such logics–an aspect largely neglected in existing scholarship. This tension calls for deeper examination of the neo-racialisation entrenched in the broader global citizenship regime. Focusing on the European Union as a case study, the article advances the argument that, despite their flaws, CBI and RBI schemes might represent the ‘lesser evil’, justified on four grounds: being egalitarian, anti-racist, anti-colonial and human rights-based.
Topic
Publisher
Place of Publication
Type
Journal article
Date
2026-04-14
Language
ISBN
Identifiers
10.1080/1369183X.2026.2639888