Paper short abstract:

This paper argues that the various local reactions to Malta's selling of citizenship rights to international elites exposes long-standing alliances between the working classes and capital, and the role of class in structuring and understanding citizenship and nationality.

Paper long abstract:

While Europe suffers austerity, Malta has experienced an unprecedented economic boom. Capitalising on Malta's marginality, the reigning Labour Party has used various schemes to attract foreign capital, including the accommodation of shady "gaming companies" and the commodification of Maltese citizenship (and EU) to international elites. Malta's civil society - largely composed of young professionals educated abroad - has campaigned hard against such schemes, both in Malta and increasingly in Europe. But many Maltese have not rallied to their banner. The masses, civil society argues, are still obsessed with their well-documented "game of thrones" of local party politics. Accordingly, they cannot see "the white walkers" making a mockery of nationality and jeopardising Malta's status as a democratic, European nation.

Studying the trajectory of two pro-government families, this paper reveals a long alliance between the working classes and foreign elites. Unlike "civil society", which ruins Malta's reputation abroad, "white walkers" have reproduced barren Malta as a hub of global trade, providing wealth that stops the upwardly mobile from having to seek fortunes abroad. Moreover, unlike their cosmopolitan protesters - whose fates, prestige and conceptions of identity are tied to the European project - they reject the idea that "Malteseness" can be reduced to law and governance. Being a Maltese citizen does not make one Maltese, surely? Rather than morally and ontologically compromising them, therefore, they see the selling of citizenship rights as a viable (and ingenious) way of generating raw cash and attracting foreign investors.