What Can We Learn from Hobbes? : An Interpretative Approach to Contemporary Citizenship Deprivation Practices

Abstract: Deprivation of citizenship is currently used in democratic states to combat international terrorism and constitutes ‘the securitisation of citizenship’. The usage of which is often justified by states as assuring national security. Among scholars, there seem to be a conflict between a perspective of rights and security, where critics usually come from the former. Can citizenship deprivation be justified from a security perspective as a counter-terrorism tool? That question is asked in this thesis. By conducting an interpretative analysis of Hobbes, the question is assessed from a security perspective and the answer is not clear cut. The research shows that even when practices are investigated through a lens of security, they are problematic as they currently stand.