ABSTRACT
Modern states tend to constitute their subjects in a gendered way: The sphere of the political project itself is defined as essentially male in its capacities and needs; the sphere of the nation, in its symbolic figuration, is constructed as female (Anthias and YuvalDavis 1994). The modern state thus works in part through a process of politicizing gender roles: “[I]t politicizes or constructs the kinds of citizens women and men are supposed to be under the state’s jurisdiction” (Moore 1988:149-50). Predicated upon gender difference, the modern state inscribes this difference into the political process.
