Disputing Citizenship

Book excerpt: Many people take citizenship for granted, but throughout history it has been an embattled notion. This unique book presents a new perspective on citizenship, treating it as a continuous focal point of dispute. Written by scholars from Brazil, France, Britain, and the United States, it offers an international and interdisciplinary exploration of the ways different forms and practices of citizenship embody contesting entanglements of politics, culture, and power. In doing so, it offers a provocative challenge to the ways citizenship is normally conceived of and analyzed by the social sciences and develops an innovative view of citizenship as something always emerging from struggle.