Gender, state and citizenships: Challenges and dilemmas in feminist theorizing

The concept of citizenships, in the plural, reflects different research traditions in citizenship theorizing: citizenship as legal status in a sovereign state, as a bearer of rights and obligations; citizenship as participation (civic republicanism); and citizenship as social membership. Each of these enhance the capabilities of individuals to become participants in political, economic and social spheres of life. Citizenships as a concept also embraces practices: how these aspects of citizenship are experienced in everyday encounters and the relationships of power - in families, workplaces, welfare offices, social movements - and their variations in institutional contexts.
We focus on how gender has become more salient in theorizing across these citizenship domains, extending the boundaries of social membership and inclusion (Lister 2003; Hobson and Lister 2002). Implicit in the pluralizing of citizenships is the recognition of the need for a dynamic concept that engages with multi-dimensional aspects of gender, citizenships and social memberships within, below and beyond the state. This approach allows us to capture both the diversity in locations and situations of individuals and groups and the multi-scalar structures of governance: by national and transnational institutions and actors, as well as the opportunities and constraints for social movements to transform them. Finally, this chapter engages with the theoretical terrain on intersectionalities, viewing gender through the lens of complex inequalities across age, citizenship/migrant status, class, ethnicity/race, region, and their intersections. Throughout we engage with the dilemmas and challenges in theorizing gender, citizenships and social memberships: if and how gender matters in the framing of citizenship and what processes shape social divisions and citizenship identities.