Citizenship, Inequality, and Difference: Historical Perspectives

Citizenship has evolved from ancient Rome to the present, with political leaders and thinkers debating its compatibility with cultural diversity and economic inequality. Frederick Cooper presents citizenship as claim-making, with the kind of political entity in which claims and counterclaims have been made varying over time and space. Citizenship ideas were first shaped in the context of empires, and Cooper examines struggles over citizenship in various empires and the reconfiguration of citizenship questions after their collapse. He explores the tension today between individualistic and social conceptions of citizenship and between citizenship as an exclusionary notion and flexible and multinational conceptions of citizenship.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 06 April 2021
Publisher: Princeton University Press

Citizenship,Inequality,and Difference offers a comprehensive and thought-provoking exploration of citizenship's complex evolution from ancient Rome to the present day. Political leaders and thinkers continue to debate the compatibility of presumed citizen equivalence with cultural diversity and economic inequality, a debate that echoes the discussions of Republican Rome. Frederick Cooper presents citizenship as a claim-making process, highlighting the assertion of rights within a political entity. The nature of these rights and their application to individuals have been the subject of ongoing discussion and political mobilization, while the political entity in which claims and counterclaims are made has varied across time and space. Citizenship ideas emerged within the context of empires, and the relationship between citizenship and nation-states was a subject of intense debate following the revolutions in France and the Americas. Claims to imperial citizenship persisted into the mid-twentieth century. Cooper delves into the struggles over citizenship in various empires, including the Spanish, French, British, Ottoman, Russian, Soviet, and American empires, and examines the reconfiguration of citizenship questions after the collapse of empires in Africa and India. He explores the tension between individualistic and social conceptions of citizenship, as well as between citizenship as an exclusionary notion and flexible and multinational conceptions of citizenship. Citizenship, Inequality, and Difference is a historically grounded reflection on some of the most fundamental issues facing human societies in the past and present.

Weight: 296g
Dimension: 139 x 215 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691217338