The Cost of Belonging: Citizenship Construction in the State of Qatar

In Qatar, processes of constructing citizenship have been strongly state-driven over the past four decades. This article reviews the primary influences on Qatari citizenship laws, including historical and contemporary social contexts that have impacted the development of relevant legislation. The article argues that the existing financial privileges of Qatari citizenship as well as the presence of a dominant nonnational population have led to an ever more restrictive legal environment around access to citizenship.