ABSTRACT

Feminist theorists have encouraged the concept of citizenship to embrace membership in meso and micro level groups rather than membership only to the nation-state. This study investigates the gendered nature of “religious citizenship" within some Ghanaian Christian churches in Amsterdam and how, through agency, some second-generation female Ghanaian migrants contest, reinterpret, or conform to unequal access to full religious citizenship rights. The chapter adapts ethnographic research methodology and is based on interviews of 50 second-generation Ghanaian migrants in Amsterdam, in-depth interviews of nine Ghanaian churches in Amsterdam, and participant observation and informal interviews conducted in Amsterdam from January 2014 until January 2015. Questions address include: how does gender influence religious citizenship within Ghanaian Christian churches in Amsterdam? To what extent does human agency intervene in the exercise of the right to religious citizenship among second-generation Ghanaian migrants in Ghanaian churches in Amsterdam? Findings of the study indicate that oppressive socialization may perpetuate gender discrimination in citizenship, as gendered sanctions inherent in the Ghanaian culture are embedded in most churches, making it difficult to disentangle the unequal power relations. As second-generation female Ghanaian migrants exercise agency to confront the oppressive religious practices that impede access to full religious citizenship, they redefine and reinterpret gendered religious citizenship.