ABSTRACT
Feminist critiques of liberalism have focused on its preoccupation with the rights of the individual in the public sphere. On this critique, liberalism's concept of citizenship rights is predicated on a concept of the free and rational individual entering the public sphere for participation in liberal democratic politics. This concept is criticized by feminists on two main grounds. First, it undervalues the importance of the private sphere and, in particular, the interconnectedness of human beings. Secondly, the concept encourages competitiveness between individuals and masks women's social and political disadvantage.
