We are thrilled to announce that CEEShub researcher Timothy Raymond Anderson has been awarded the prestigious GLOBALCIT – Rainer Bauböck 2025 Essay Award on the Global State of Citizenship. The award was presented by the Global Citizenship Observatory (GLOBALCIT), based at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence.
Timothy received the award for his essay, ‘Civilizational Citizenship: Geopolitics and the Remaking of Belonging in Estonia’. In his work, Timothy introduces and develops the concept of ‘civilizational citizenship’. He argues that, under this logic, states filter belonging according to individuals’ assumed place within grand transnational and transhistorical identity narratives – such as ‘the West’ or the ‘Russian world’. This process shapes rights and recognition based on ideological legibility and perceived cultural alignment, moving beyond traditional criteria like legal status or lived contribution.
The jury with Timothy (from left to right: Jelena Džankić, Rainer Bauböck, Timothy Anderson and Maarten Vink).
The award ceremony took place on May 8th, 2025, following the first day of the annual GLOBALCIT-Migration Policy Centre (MPC) Conference hosted at the EUI. Timothy was invited to present a summary of his award-winning research to the conference attendees. His presentation highlighted key findings from his essay, using Estonia as a case study. He detailed how recent shifts in Estonian citizenship and residency regimes, such as changes to voting rights for non-EU citizens and the differential reception of Ukrainian versus other refugees, illustrate the mechanisms of civilizational citizenship in action. He also explored how this logic interacts with, and often co-opts, liberal democratic principles and human rights discourse.
The jury commended Timothy’s essay for its strong topical relevance, clarity, originality, and the fit of the Estonian case study in understanding the evolving dynamics of citizenship in today’s geopolitically tense environment. The essay will be published in an upcoming Working Paper series for the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies.