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The paper proposes a definition and an empirical review of the concept of ‘material citizenship’. The issue of status, which is key in legal approaches, is set aside in a genuinely sociological reading of citizenship that focuses on individual practices. If rights allow individuals to access social resources, capitals determine the breadth of the resources actually attained. Altogether, they shape the capacities that each person turns into functioning in daily life – that is, citizenship practices. Using Eurostat data, the focus is placed on the practices of nationals, Europeans and third-country citizens in France and Italy to highlight the persistence and rising complexity of a hierarchy of citizenship in contemporary Europe.