Passportism can be either racism or an ugly political generalization.
It is a new kind of institutional racism or extreme politicism or of relating a political affiliation on someone by force.
It's a new kind of "the system against the user" sort of absurdity.
My personal example
The only passport I have to use is an Israeli passport - I didn't choose that reality, and yet passportists think that all citizens of Israel have the same opinions about politics.
Early writers about passportism
As to the best of my knowledge, it was Srđan Mladenov Jovanović (an academic working from China) who first wrote about passportism.
After Mladenov, Shahnaz Habib (an Indian journalist) started writing about it two, in the context of discrimination against Indians in airports.
We can read of her work at shahnazhabib.com.
Pallavi Aiyar joined Shahnaz Habib in the same wave of writing.
At 19 Apr, 2024 Bhavya Dore wrote the following:
Who amongst us has not experienced the ritual humiliation and mind-numbing bureaucracy of applying for a tourist visa to the “first world”? Off we go to be scrutinised, armed with bank statements, tax returns, passport photos of the correct dimensions and other paraphernalia to be authorised to enter France or Canada or Australia. This, according to Shahnaz Habib, is “passportism”, a term she borrows from the scholar Srdjan Mladenov Jovanovic.
Violence is part of it
It's not only that my dears.
It's also the eyebrow lifts, apathethic mannerisms and often verbal violence or continuous hostility I can very often encounter in about 60% of the world because of a passport type, which I never chose, and various millitaristic governments that couldn't care less about my opinions and criticism.
I have seen passportism happening time and again with others
We fly hours to a country, we risk our lives, lose energy, time and money and may get denied entry in a given visit because of a trivial piece of paper.
I have seen it happening in Suvarnabhumi (Suwanaaphum) airpot in Bangkok Thailand several times, where Indians, Sri Lankans, Chinese and Russians are constantly referred to a side counter to be denied entry in most cases.