Introduction

So far in this book we have tried to map out main avenues of applying the notion of citizenship to corporations. There are some relatively consistent, well-established and robust understandings of citizenship in political science and political philosophy, which can be taken – as it were – from the shelf and examined with regard to their applicability to corporations. However, we have also noted the contingency and dynamics of citizenship. This is perhaps nowhere more true than when we turn to the identities that underpin or challenge citizenship.

This relatively recent emphasis on citizenship reference frames other than that of the nation state has led to a broad debate on a variety of transformations in the nature of political communities.