Beyond Dichotomy

Abstract

Women’s exclusion from citizenship has, both historically and today, elicited two main responses: either to demand inclusion on the same terms as men or to press the case for the recasting of citizenship’s premises so as to accommodate women’s particular interests. The conclusions reached in the previous chapter regarding the need for a pluralistic approach to citizenship, which embodies a differentiated universalism, raise a serious question mark over the former strategy. Yet the alternative likewise runs the risk of suppressing the differences between women and experience suggests that it is problematic. This chapter lays the groundwork for a consideration of the potential for a feminist conceptualisation and practice of citizenship that attempts to synthesise the two approaches.