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The Golden Passport: Global Mobility for Millionaires Hardcover – September 19, 2023

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 16 ratings

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"[A] fascinating study of how people―and their capital―seek to move around a world that is at once hugely interconnected and driven by inequities…definitive, detailed, and unusually nuanced.”
―Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, Foreign Affairs

The first comprehensive on-the-ground investigation of the global market for citizenship, examining the wealthy elites who buy passports, the states and brokers who sell them, and the normalization of a once shadowy practice.

Our lives are in countless ways defined by our citizenship. The country we belong to affects our rights, our travel possibilities, and ultimately our chances in life. Obtaining a new citizenship is rarely easy. But for those with the means―billionaires like Peter Thiel and Jho Low, but also countless unknown multimillionaires―it’s just a question of price.

More than a dozen countries, many of them small islands in the Mediterranean, Caribbean, and South Pacific, sell citizenship to 50,000 people annually. Through six years of fieldwork on four continents, Kristin Surak discovered how the initially dubious sale of passports has transformed into a full-blown citizenship industry that thrives on global inequalities. Some “investor citizens” hope to parlay their new passport into visa-free travel―or use it as a stepping stone to residence in countries like the United States. Other buyers take out a new citizenship as an insurance policy or to escape state control at home. Almost none, though, intend to move to their selected country and live among their new compatriots, whose relationship with these global elites is complex.

A groundbreaking study of a contentious practice that has become popular among the nouveaux riches,
The Golden Passport takes readers from the details of the application process to the geopolitical hydraulics of the citizenship industry. It’s a business that thrives on uncertainty and imbalances of power between big, globalized economies and tiny states desperate for investment. In between are the fascinating stories of buyers, brokers, and sellers, all ready to profit from the citizenship trade.

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From the Publisher

Quote from Anthony Giddens

Quote from Frederik Obermaier

Quote from J. C. Sharman

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Forceful, original, and packed with empirical detail, this is a major contribution to our understanding of the current global order. Kristin Surak makes clear the wider social, economic, and geopolitical implications of a Faustian bargain in place between the super-rich and some of the poorer countries of the world. Her pathbreaking book deserves to reach a wide readership.”Anthony Giddens, author of Turbulent and Mighty Continent

“Kristin Surak offers a chilling look at the thriving industry of citizenship. In an unequal world, it enables the rich and super-rich to bypass laws, sanctions, and other perceived disturbances. A must-read!”
Frederik Obermaier, coauthor of The Panama Papers

“Required reading for policymakers working with small countries. But it is also a fascinating study of how people―and their capital―seek to move around a world that is at once hugely interconnected and riven by inequities…
The Golden Passport is a definitive, detailed, and unusually nuanced account of the industry.”Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, Foreign Affairs

“Precise and persuasive.”
Ferdinand Mount, Times Literary Supplement

“A compelling and illuminating resource for anyone interested in understanding the intricate world of citizenship by investment and its far-reaching implications. It is commendable for expanding the scholarship beyond the European context, and for providing a detailed map of the complex and multifaceted industry which will be invaluable for future research. The book thus provides a valuable and novel contribution to the ongoing discourse on this fascinating yet contentious practice.”
LSE Review of Books Blog

“Surak is adept at showing how the citizenship-by-investment sector often exploits the language of human rights and freedom of movement while commodifying citizenship and stripping it of its former values.”
Max Holleran, Inside Story

“An in-depth look at the rise of CBI, or Citizenship by Investment, the process by which impoverished nations benefit by selling citizenship to wealthy individuals in exchange for large investments in the country.”
Publishers Weekly

“Comprehensive… [Surak’s] meticulous on-the-ground investigation sheds light on the intricate network involving wealthy elites, states, and brokers, revealing the transformation of a once clandestine practice into a prevalent and significant phenomenon.”
Politics Today

“This superb book, deeply researched and skillfully narrated, gives the lie to the idea that the current version of globalism is based on free markets. Citizenship by investment is a salient case of the incursion of raw capitalism into extra-market realms where it doesn’t belong.”
Robert Kuttner, author of Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism?

“This pioneering book illuminates how globalization, sovereignty, and citizenship work at the level of the individual. Combining a keen eye for fascinating personal stories and the sometimes bizarre details of this industry, Surak also provides a new perspective on some of the biggest political controversies of our day: who belongs, who doesn’t, and how much this should be left for money to decide.”
J. C. Sharman, author of Empires of the Weak

“A
tour de force, offering at once a history of ‘citizenship by investment,’ a business school case study in market-making, and a peek into the lives of the super-wealthy. Surak’s book is a sharp-eyed contribution and a major milestone.”John Torpey, author of The Invention of the Passport

About the Author

Kristin Surak is Associate Professor of Political Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is the author of Making Tea, Making Japan: Cultural Nationalism in Practice and writes for the London Review of Books, the Washington Post, and The Guardian.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvard University Press (September 19, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0674248643
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674248649
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.5 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.12 x 1.1 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 16 ratings

About the author

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Kristin Surak
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Kristin Surak is an Associate Professor of Political Sociology at the London School of Economics (LSE). She writes about golden passports and golden visas, globalization, international migration, nationalism, culture, and Japanese politics and society.

Her most recent book is "The Golden Passport: Global Mobility for Millionaires" (Harvard University Press 2023).

Her first book, "Making Tea, Making Japan: Cultural Nationalism in Practice," was named the Outstanding Book of the Year in 2014 by the American Sociological Association's Section on Asia.

For more information, see https://www.lse.ac.uk/sociology/people/kristin-surak

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
16 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2023
    The book is incredibly comprehensive and well documented with actual data from around the world . It is extremely well written that also includes the author's personal experiences with government and wealth individuals involved in the selling of citizenships. Dr. Surak is an outstanding scholar who also have the ability to present this important topic in a relevant and personal context.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2023
    "The Golden Passport" by Kristin Surak is an eye-opening journey into the realm of citizenship-for-investment. I loved her writing style - the perfect combination of rigorous investigation and engaging narratives. Highly recommend it to anyone interested in global migration and markets!
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2023
    Packed with empirical data, this captivating narrative brings light to the relationship among states, citizenship, and the market.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2023
    A serious and finely crafted sociological study that sheds light on a controversial policy. The menacing world situation makes Surak's study all the more timely. Her past record of research ensures quality and a certain elegance in writing

Top reviews from other countries

  • Alex
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 11, 2023
    The most interesting book I've read on globalization in a long time.