Civic Subjecthood: The Hybridization and Reformulation of Subjecthood and Citizenship in Brunei.

This article examines Brunei's state formation and development from 1906 until 2023 to demonstrate the hybridization and reformulation of subjecthood and citizenship within the last absolute monarchy in the Asia-Pacific region. The absence of active political parties and calls for a representative government has led most scholars to portray Bruneians as passive subjects of the Sultan. Such a portrayal is inaccurate; Bruneians are both citizens and subjects. The article thus introduces a new category of political membership based on synthesized ideas of subjecthood and citizenship, termed here, "civic subjecthood." This coexistence is only possible as a result of the British residential system, which was established in the Bruneian Sultanate at the beginning of the twentieth century. The British resident initially created a dual-state apparatus – consisting of the traditional negara and the modern state – to keep the façade of indigenous rule in Brunei. However, the Sultan of Brunei and the traditional ruling class eventually took control of both apparatuses after abolishing the residential system in September 1959. Both apparatuses function to this day, allowing for the coexistence of subjecthood and citizenship in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]