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This paper aims to study the possible emergence of a new type of citizenship: global citizenship. For some time much of the literature in social science has related a weakening of nation-state and national-citizenship as a result of the globalization process. The consequence would be an increase in cosmopolitanism and emergence of a global citizenship identity. This, in principle, would be especially pronounced amongst the most globalized groups. The paper discusses two of these: backpackers and corporate expatriates. However, we show here that contradictory features arise when the available empirical evidence is studied. Both backpackers and corporate expatriates share a cosmopolitan rhetoric that has no clear correlation with the areas of social practice.