Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This chapter argues that citizenship has been an ambivalent institution in the material and symbolic formation of a global elite. Bringing together debates on global elites and global inequality, the chapter shows that, on the one hand, citizenship introduces considerable intra-elite inequality and as such tempers the formation of a global elite. Yet, on the other hand, citizenship may directly and indirectly help elites in both core and peripheral countries to amass wealth and power, thereby supporting the formation of a global elite. In particular, the recent commodification of citizenship as an offshore provision for the super-rich might further contribute to the emergence of a self-conscious global elite. At stake is not only the existence, or emergence, of a global elite across the deep fault lines of citizenship; but also, the further encroachment of market principles and wealth inequality into social and political domains.</jats:p>