ABSTRACT
Feminist theorists’ interest in debates on citizenship is not a recent development; citizenship was “probably the most important single issue to have shaped feminist thought” (Baumeister 2000, 49). The positioning of citizenship discourses within feminist debates has, however, differed over time. Critical attention has been given to reexamining liberal models of citizenship (Lister 2003; Mouffe 1993; Pateman 1988; 1989; Squires 2004; Voet 1998). Feminist theorists have also significantly contributed to the deconstructing and rejecting of the formal universalistic concept of citizenship (Ilić 2001; Lister 2003; Voet 1998). In particular, they have been critical of neoliberal models, where liberal claims for universal rights have been questioned. As Hobson and Lister argue, “to ignore the different needs, claims and situations, the subjectivities and identities of citizens, is to perpetuate exclusionary processes embedded in false universalism” (2002, 47). Feminist scholars have also challenged the socialist models that claimed to liberate women, but in reality only eliminated their subordination theoretically (Ashwin 2000; Funk and Muller 1993; Jancar Webster 1990). As socialist ideology and practices became more rooted, women and men became increasingly subjugated to the aims of the communist state (Ilić 2001; Stites 1978).
