Feminist, Sexual, and Queer Citizenship

The Oxford Handbook on Citizenship, edited by Ayelet Shachar, Rainer Bauboeck, Irene Bloemraad, and Maarten Vink, Oxford University Press, 2017.

Posted: 2 Oct 2017

See all articles by Leti Volpp

Leti Volpp

University of California, Berkeley - School of Law; University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law

Date Written: July 1, 2017

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the fields of feminist citizenship, sexual citizenship, and queer citizenship, canvassing and critically assessing these areas of research.

The line dividing citizens and those excluded from its promise was long shaped by the public/private dichotomy, consigning women to the private, while reserving citizenship’s sphere of the public domain for men. Feminist theorists, in criticizing this dichotomy, have examined the relationships between citizenship, dependency, and reproduction. While those considered sexually deviant have suffered exclusions from citizenship, gay and lesbian subjects in some sites currently enjoy a role as model citizens. This shift has accompanied a transition in the role of the citizen from producer of work to consumer: the privatized, self-governing, and sexually free individual is today’s prototypical citizen. This new sexual citizen is contrasted with illiberal others, who are cast outside as unfit candidates for citizenship. Queer citizenship does not provide a more encompassing vision; citizenship is not available to be queered, given how it inevitably splits the world into those who belong and those left outside.

Keywords: citizenship, feminist, sexual, queer, reproductive, market, illberal

Suggested Citation

Volpp, Leti, Feminist, Sexual, and Queer Citizenship (July 1, 2017). The Oxford Handbook on Citizenship, edited by Ayelet Shachar, Rainer Bauboeck, Irene Bloemraad, and Maarten Vink, Oxford University Press, 2017., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3042888

Leti Volpp (Contact Author)

University of California, Berkeley - School of Law ( email )

215 Boalt Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States

University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law

Boalt Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States

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