Subjectivity, Citizenship and Belonging in Law : Identities and Intersections

Law tends to have a rather fixed view of the proper or valid legal subject. This collection challenges law’s inherent constructions of normality and the ‘normal’ subject. Taken together, the articles cover issues as diverse as marginalized identities and agencies, transnational families, the legal position of vulnerable citizens, the complex relations of care and work, as well as gender and queer aspects in law. The book looks at the nation state and citizenship, and relates these public and political issues to the most nuanced and personal of questions, such as gender, intimate relations and private identities.

This collection of articles critically examines legal subjectivity and ideas of citizenship inherent in legal thought. The chapters offer a novel perspective on current debates in this area by exploring the connections between public and political issues as they intersect with more intimate sets of relations and private identities. Covering issues as diverse as autonomy, vulnerability and care, family and work, immigration control, the institution of speech, and the electorate and the right to vote, they provide a broader canvas upon which to comprehend more complex notions of citizenship, personhood, identity and belonging in law, in their various ramifications.