Toward a South American citizenship? the development of a new post-national form of membership in the region.

• Author: Arcarazo, Diego Acosta
• Position: Regional Case Study

Migration law may be discussed as an example of a clash between two central contradictory globalization processes: first, the transformation of political membership through new forms of quasi-citizenship and their impact for traditional understandings of identity and belonging in the national polity, and second, the securitization of migration and the attempt by the state to control its borders, considered as its "last bastion of sovereignty." (1) The outcome of this dispute results in conflicting mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion and in illiberal state practices, contrary to fundamental rights, with profound implications for the rule of law in Europe and elsewhere. South America has usually been neglected in academic debates on migration law. This is regretful for two main reasons: first, the development of new liberal ideas on migration in the region which challenge established assumptions on the regulation of migration in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere, and second, the parallel establishment of a South American citizenship. This article will look at this aspect, in particular the Mercosur Residence Agreement, which establishes a free movement of people regime in South America. Its drawbacks and potential will be outlined before exploring possible future scenarios and their importance for other regions, including the European Union (EU). (2)

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During the last five years, South America has been taking decisive steps toward what has been labeled in official documents as the establishment of a regional citizenship. This development can be seen as part of a wider, global trend in which the relationship between migration and citizenship is shifting. Globalization has brought transformations to sovereignty, borders, and nation-based citizenship. (3) The classical sovereignty doctrine--in which states decide who may enter their territory and under which conditions--is being eroded through various processes in the region. Some scholars have labeled this as a "rebundling of authority" or "challenges to sovereignty," with profound implications for the relationship between borders, territory, and population, since it transforms states'

control over that relationship. (4) Faced with this situation, governments have reacted in two contradictory manners.

Several authors have referred to the increasing securitization of migratory processes, notably when it comes to addressing the situation of migrants in an irregular situation. (5) Here, the border acts as the "last bastion of sovereignty." (6) For example, the use of labels such as "illegal migrant" and the detention and expulsion of undocumented migrants have become powerful tools in a process of criminalization, which emits potent signals about their undesirability and affects perceptions of their membership in the body politic. (7)

At the same time, we can identify the trans' formation of political membership through new forms of quasi-citizenship or "denizenship." (8) Here we see forms of "stable association with the polity other than through the medium of citizenship," which consequently test "the frame of our traditional understanding of membership of a political community." (9) In this light, the individual does not necessarily need to be a citizen to enjoy membership in a polity, since non-nationals are entitled to rights deriving from international human rights standards, regardless of their nationality, and from international agreements, as epitomized by the case of

European citizenship. (10)

Where does South America position itself in these debates? The first section of this article will briefly assess the development of supranational citizenship proposals in the last five years. This article will then assess the most developed framework, the Mercosur Residence Agreement, in light of the previous experience of European citizenship, as well as its position in the continuum between securitization and post-national forms of membership. (11)

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SOUTH AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP MODEL

In the last five years, at least four different South American regional organizations and one regional dialogue have taken steps toward the adoption of a new form of supranational citizenship.

First, on 16 December 2010, the Common Market Council, Mercosur's highest decisionmaking body, adopted Decision 64/10. (12) Its aim was to establish an action plan to develop a Mercosur citizenship framework to be adopted by 2021, coinciding with the organization's thirtieth anniversary. This builds on the Mercosur Residence Agreement that is discussed in the next section.

Another regional organization, the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) introduced a goal of regional citizenship in its founding treaty, which entered into effect on 11 March 2011. (13) Article 3(i) establishes, as one of its objectives, the consolidation of a South American identity through the progressive recognition of rights to those nationals of one member state residing in the territory of another member state, with the aim of achieving a joint South American citizenship. The final declarations of the 2012, 2013, and 2014 ordinary meetings of the Council of the Heads of State and Government reinforced the goal of working toward a real South American citizenship, which would constitute the main pillar of an integrated South American space and proposed to establish a single passport. (14)

Third, the Andean Community (CAN) has worked since at least the 1970s to adopt some aspects of a regional form of community membership through various supranational decisions. (15) The most important of these, Decision 545, which was adopted in 2003, has yet to be developed by the necessary implementing regulatory bodies and has not produced any tangible results for individuals in the region in terms of mobility rights. (16) However, the CAN Migration Forum has discussed the adoption of an Andean Migration Statute that would...