14 CONCEPT OF CITIZENSHIP t NATURE OF CITIZENSHIP Citizenship denotes the status of an individual as g Spolitcal community. Thus dual as a full and responsible member of lus citizen is a person who ow i 2 os es allegiance to a state and in tum receives protection from the state. He must fulfil his duties and obligations toward the state as the state grants him civil, political and social ri ghts. Hence citi- zenship implies two-way relationship between individual and the state. NATURE OF CITIZENSHIP (Two-way relationship between Individual and the State) oe a Duties and Obligations ee Ailsiece ——> pa Pe “= Individual State ee ee Protection ea Civil, Political and Social Rights In order to understand the significance of citizenship a distinction must be made between a ‘subject’ and a ‘citizen’ZA subject is usually subservient to the state where the right to rule is reserved for a privileged class>But citizens them- selves constitute a state’ Citizenship is the product ofa community where the right tazule ig decided by a prescribed procedure which expresses the will of the gen- eral body of its members. While ascertaining their will, nobody is discriminated NO ongrounds of race, religion, gender, place of birth, etc, T.H. Marshall jn his-Citl- zenship and Social Class (1950) observed that citizenship implies full member- ship of a community: those who possess this status are equal with respect to the rights and duties associated with it. Marshall adds that different societies will attach different rights and duties to the status of citizen, for there is no universal principle which determines necessary rights and duties of citizenship in general. Itis possible that some groups ofthe citizens of a state are not satisfied with their existing rights. These persons are regarded to be citizens of their state only inwich Cire 270 « An Introduction to Political Theory a formal sense of the term. But they do not enjoy substantive citizenship a, tot of the rights of citizenship are denied to them in actual practice. These pray, i 5 in resort toa social movement for the restoration of their rights. This Moverient in, political participation, sueh as, voting, pre combine conventional forms of : litical ‘Sire roup tacties and lobbying with unconventional political activities, such, yy = tests, sit-ins, demonstrations and tallies, Examples of some of such citizeyy, Moye ments are: abolitionist movement and civil rights movements of Ameri¢ working elnss movements of Europe, and adivas! (ribal) and dati (lepyeyeet p clas : classes) movements of India, | Indeed thaoriginal concept of citizenship exolusively focused on the sengg a duty where the question of rights was relegated to the backround, But ithe con. temporary society citizenship is primarily concerned with certain righ scheme duties ofthe individual axe nceepted only as long as they are considered 4, be essential for the maintenance of those rights. Historical Development The idea of citizenship in its early form is found in the ancient Greek and Roman state systems. It is worth noting that the form of ancient Greek community wag entirely different from the present-day political community of democratic nation. states, Ina modern democratic state all members of a community are regarded its citizensSQut in ancient Greek city-states very few inhabitants (about ten Percent) enjoyed the status of ‘freemen’ who were treated as full citizens\ These citizen were cqual among themselves as regards their rights. There was no discrimination between the rich and the poor among fieemenThe fest of the community com. prised of slaves\vomen and aliens who had no rights of citizenship. That is why Gristotle regarded citizenship as a privilege of the ruling class) In this sense cit. zenship stood for effective participation in the exercise of power. In any case, in ancient Greek political tradition this privilege of the ruling class was also regarded to be a part of their duty. All ‘citizens’ were expected to per. form this duty in order to secure good life for themselves as well as for the ‘non-citizens’. rd Pore WL Q Lan © After the decline of Greek city-states a new definition of citizenship was evolved in the ‘Roman Empire’, Initially there, too, citizenship was confined to power-holders. Later it was extended to the ordinary people and those vanquished in war, Thus diverse types of people came within the ambit of citizenship. Only the people of lowest rank and women were excluded from the benefit of citizen- ship. However, different categories of ‘citizens’ were entitled to different types of rights—a practice that does not fit into the modern concept of citizenship. Roman practice was different from the Greek as citizen was no longer defined to be the a) h if Protector of law but as one who was under the protection of the laws. _ ¢) 4 During the medieval Europe political authority was eclipsed byl eccl jastioalyp authority) Temporal citizenship was no longer considered to be important, In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries with the advent of modern thought, the idea of citizenship again occupied the centre-stage in Italian republics,-Niccolo (Q Machia elli)(1469-1527), the famous Italian thinker gave a new lease of life to@ Concept of Citizenship » 274 this idea. hvevent - een een Milton (160%, Ty rede me Mury England James Harrington (1611-77) and John of the future whieh wana Mle Hatrigton dreva picture of an idea systera of Glorious Revolution regen Cinpite of the laws, not of men’. ‘The exponents izenship. In the ei ai ciate England pf American Revolution" Nis Wea he The idea of citizenship reney and the consequent Decl ened ts 2 echoes the views of Jey Contract (1762) wrote to participate in all tho: icularly popularized the id ane very popular during, th nith with the French Revolution (1789) its of Man and Citizen. This Declaration 1 (71272), Rousseau, in his Soctal ‘ne «1 autonomous person. He is entitled theriseo! commercial ocug ots whieh ae bntny on all eizens. On seeing fie examen geal artnet ee ee ieee mmon Bovd and the private in See ori id undermine the social unity, Rou was inevitable,\This clash woul - Roussea Eatal Wate : mon good over the private interests Stately Bev prominence to the come thdnineteently cer ait neGiineleenth emury the ascendancy of liberalism gave rise to market rela- tions ; ae i ed Anew notion of citizenship. Now the idea of natural rights came to be regarded a5 the basis of citizenship, The idea of natural rights i Tis — serie was advanced by John Locke (1632-1704) in England, Locke had argued that the ‘right (o life, liberty and property’ was the mainstay of natural rights. The citizens set up a state for the protection of these rights, If the state fails to protect these rights, the individual would be free to exercise his ‘right to resistance’ against the state. Under the influence of these views iti State, | zenship came to be, —~ regarded as indicative of ‘rights against the state’ ivan caserie notion ciltep=) ative rights* made a significant contribution to the development of liberal-clemo-— ocieties. Eventually the notion of tpositive rights} was evolved in these societies which brought the idea of citizenship To iis logical conclusion, In a nut- shell, ‘absence of restraint’ on certain activities of the individual within the state constitutes his ‘negative rights’. On the other hand, when the state extends its support to the individual in his self-development, it constitutes his ‘p rights. Taration of f Am Jaq WCiZen is a free a COMPONENTS OF CITIZENSHIP: CIVIL, POLITICAL AND > SOCIAL RIGHTS In the present-day ta important components: civil, political and social r zenship and Social Class (1950) has given an analysis of the concept of citizen ship in an evolutionary perspective. He has identified three stages of development of the rights associated with citizenship in England since the eighteenth cent At the first stage, Civil rights) (constituting civil citizenship) were evolve eighteenth century. These Included: equality before the law, liberty of the person, freedom of speech, thought and faith, the right to own property and conclude con- tracts, At the second stage, political rights (Sonsttuting political citizenship) were wee =e272 « An Introduction to Political Theory evolved in the nineteenth century. These included: the right to take part in cleg. tions, the right to serve in bodies invested with political authority, whether legis. tures or cabinets, Finally, at the third stage, Social right (constituting, social citizenship) were developed in th twentieth century. These included: the right ty certain standard of economic and social welfare, the right to a share to the full jy the social heritage, Four sets of public institutionsywere equipped to take care of these three types of rights: the courts, representative political bodi zens; representa. nd schools pro. renship Was completed services and school tive political bodies protect thei ic vide for their social rights, In short, th with the development of welfare state. WELFARE STATE A stato that provides for various types of social services for its citizens, e.g. social security (financial assistance in the case of loss of job or any other source of income, death of the bread-winner, prolonged illness or physical dis- ability or any other calamity), free education, public health, poor relief, supply of essential goods and services like foodgrains, milk, fuel and transport to the needy at subsidized rates. It undertakes the protection of cultural heritage including monuments, museums, libraries, art galleries, botanical gardens and zoological parks, etc. It also promotes higher education and scientific research, etc. to step up intellectual and cultural development of society. ‘These components of citizenship, viz. civil, political and social rights have to be developed in each state that claims to be humane and progressive. The scope of these rights can be elaborated further keeping in view of the logic behind them, An effective provision of civil rights requires that the benefit of these rights should be extended equally to minorities and majorities. In other words, while making provision of these rights no discrimination should be made between dif- ferent citizens on racial, religious, linguistic, gender or any other similar ground. If any group, particularly a minority group, faces such discrimination, it can resort to a civil rights movement to secure restoration of these rights. For instance, the American Negroes (the black citizens) had to resort to such movement. They had to fight for the enforcement of those rights which existed in law but denied to them in actual practice, The American Supreme Court had allowed them unre- stricted use of public property and unrestricted entry into public institutions way back in[954, But they had to endure a prolonged struggle for the enforcement of these rights throughout the United States. As a result of their mass movement, Civil Rights Act was passed in}1964\forbidding racial discrimination in employ- ment, education, or accommodation.) i Similarly, an effective provision of political rights requires that all citizens should be eligible to gain political office through a prescribed procedure; ordinary people should be able to elect the rulers of their choice, to replace the unwanted rulers, to influence public decisions, to criticize publig policies, decisions and actions, and to offer alternative policies and programmes. In communist countries (like the People’s Republic of China and the former USSR) political powerConcept of Citizenship _ ad the monopoly of one party—the Communist Patty. ‘They } maine’ put the ruling party had the exchisive right to nominate ions Taple in these countries indeed had no choive, ower-holders. So the citizens did not have political rights in the ern ce Me grermathough they dabbed the ise 0 system a ‘people's republic’. In 1989 sens ousands of students demon en tod ted at Tiananman Square in Ching WI ing their democratic rights, they wer ity demanding ‘y ily Hjem were shot dead. d nally, social rights of citizens are largely provided in a welfare state. In nine- Ftp century Europe the functions of state were largely confined tthe wana, teen of law and order. It was dubbed a ‘nightwatchman state” Tt was regarded to sane astrument of safeguarding property ofits citizens. tte power of taxation was beally determined by the needs of performing this funtion the idea of welfare lege iginated in Germany in the nineteenth century itself*as a programme of Searins under Prinee, Bismarck] It was introduced in England i early aventieth ntury ander HH, Asquithgke reached its zenith with the publication of peveridge.Report (1942). This report pronounced the objective of the state to “Gekle five major problems Van, ase, lgnorance,Squalor and Idleness. Spe- cial attention was paid to the provision of financial assistance to the citizens in case of unemployment, sickness and old age. Beveridge Report is regarded the sep foundation of the system of welfare state. The implementation of this report tymied England into a model welfare state. {t is important to note that in England various components of citizenship devel- oped in a logical order. Hence the structure of citizenship in England can serve as a model for other countries. Initially the evolution of civil rights in England cre- ated an atmosphere which paved the way for the evolution of democracy. Democ- ra y ich enabled hee racy secured political rights of the citizens which enabled them to Participate in public life and to influence public decisions. This led to the evolution of welfare state which secured their social rights. On the other hi and, the concept of citizen- ship in the United States hardly developed beyond the provision of civil rights, \y A, Hence the women as well as the black Americans had to resort to imass move. : ments for the enforcement of their civil rights. Po Itis again worth noting that after the Second World War (1939-45) the con- cit cept of citizenship developed in different directions in Eastern and Western part¢O©!Y? of Europe. In Western Europe initially civil and political rights were established(3) §. & under liberal-democratic s yystems/ Subsequently social rights were introduced under welfare state system in order to curb the inegalitarian tendencies of the cap P28 |! itaist economy. But in Eastern Burope initially elaborate provision of social ard économie tights of citizens was made under communist dictatorships, and their _ civil and political rights were heavily curtailed. From 1989 the citizens of these } countries (Hungary, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Rumania and Russia) launched widespread anti-establishment mover their demand for| lbasic civil and political rights{which led to munist systems by 1991, 2 + 273 ld regular andidates, nor the capacity to capital e declared to be rebels and many ments in support of “f the collapse of coms WI Won Ucts Vole be wares,274 « An Introduction to Political Theory Mt THEORIES OF CITIZENSHIP In the contemporary political discourse several ee have been advance regarding the logical basis and the proper scope af otizens hip. Of thes five thea, ries are particularly important: (a) liberal theory; (b) libertarian theory; (c) com, tmumitarian theory; (d) Marxist theory; and (c) pluralist theory. Liberal Theory of Citizenship According to this theory, civil tights. constitute the foundation of citizenship, ‘These rights reach their logical conclusion through an evolutionary process in ~ Which politcal and social rights come into existence. Since this theory believes in the evolution of the rights associated.with citizenship, it also described as ‘evoly. tionary theory of ership EMM regarded the chief exponent of this NearyIn his Citizenship and Social Class (1950) Marshall has observed that citi. prescribes equal rights and dutiesy liberties and constraints, for different individuals, Under citizenship the individuals come le the terms of their association. The idea of citiz f class division of society. A social class promot D Detween different individuals on the basis of ownership of property, level of edu- cation and the structure of economy, but citizenship ) tends to bestow equal status upon them. S)—“Citiag the example of modem England, Marshall has shown that the idea of citizenship begins with the provision of civil rights, and proceeds further by giv. ing rise to political and social rights respectively. When it is tully developed, the individual no longer remains dependent on the market systemeS citizenship in its fully developed form leads to redistribution of goods and services, benefits and burdens. In this form it embodies the idea of social justice\Thus when some peo- ple fail to provide for health care, education or housing for their family, then as citizens they are entitled to state assistance. ~ Since citizenship assures a share to all individuals in the common heritage of the community, it creates in them a bond of alli that community. This aspect of citizenship strengthens their sense of duty. ‘Critics argue that this theory is\too optimistic] Restribution of benefits and bur- dens for the provision of social rights involvesjfaxation of some sections tolbenefit othery, Nothing comes free. If someone gets something free, someone else must be J"paying for it. To maintain goodwill and solidarity in society it is necessary that tax- payers are not subjected to undue burden and heartburn. It is a really difficult task. Libertarian Theory of Citizenship This theory regards citizenship as_a,product of free choice and contract among individuals. It considerd,‘market society) as a suitable model of civic life. Robert is the chief exponent of this theory. In his Anarchy, State and Utopia 74) Nozick has observed that individuals resort to private activity, marketa Wigs Simi A ii Os r Concept of Citizenship + 275 e and voluntary as’ ion in order to realize their values, beliefs and chars. The necd of citizenship arises because some of the necessary goods profes cannot be obtained in this manner. For this public provision becomes nde", this sense, )cilizen means a rational consumer of public goods. /: 002507 ikens the[state to a large enterprise} and i custom ik I re proteative institutions forthe protection of their right to propery. is Meg be the mos efficient among all protective institutions enjoys Si ete ize of Toree ina given tetany, monies point out that free-market-based individualism does not provide for ri foundation of social solida ityCThis model of citizenship would lead to adem utes aid intense clash of interests within societyFor instance, if we a this concept of citizenship, such questions would arige: why should those a ms do not avail themselves of the services of government hospitals or govern- wahoo be forced to pay for them? And why should those who do not own poses be forced to pay for the maintenance of the huge police force largely fneant {© protect private property? Again, why should those who do not love their country be forced to pay for the maintenance of the huge military force? ‘This argument may be extended to hold that the people should avail them- selves of the services oftprivate insurance companies} not of state, for necessary assistance in old age, theft, accident and other unforeseen calamities. In this way ty and by’ government would become redundant and the idea of citizenship would become irrelevant, Communitarian Theory of Citizenship As against the libertarian theory, the\communitarian_or_ ‘republican theory of citizenship’ insists_on_a strong bond of affinity between individual and the state. This conception of citizenship conceives the citizen as someone who plays an, active role in shaping the future direction of his or her society through political debate and decision-making. In other words, the distinctive feature of citizenship _ on Re js ‘citizen participation’, The exponents of this theory includeHannah Arendit®, 0) ui (The Human Condition; 1958), Michael Walzer (Spheres of justice; 1983) and Benjamin Barber (Strong Democracy; 1984). ¢ main tenet of this theory is that a citizen should identify himself with the comiunity of which he is a member, and take active part in its politicaf fSthen “only he can contribute substantially to the realization of the In other words, at 1 become a citizen of a com sense of the term b n_interest. in the true imself with the\culture, traditions, beliefsand sentiments of that communi) = Critics argue that this model of citizenship would only be suitable to a small, (homogeneous society with common traditions jas existed in the fourth century B.C. at Athens and fifteenth century Florence. Jean Jaques Rousseau had evolved his concept of “general will’ in his famous work Social Contract (1762) keeping in view the image of such society. General will represented a point where real will ofall the members of a community was supposed to converge. This is not feasible in the very complex society of today. In contemporary society broad issues of \y \ yee \276 +» An Introduction to Political Theory 1 debate, but it would no 5 be be discovered through a widespread eptable to the conscioys eae pal 1° which would be possible to point to a “general wil ness of the entire community. Marxist Theory of Citizenship with citizenship as the product of clasg sociated \ his theory treats th issociated confi Sn ater word hip is founded on those rights which a class hap. ‘pens to ‘in for itself after suppressing the rights of it antagonistic class. Anthony In his two important works A Con, dens 3s the chief exponent of this theory. ae ‘cal Materialism (1981) and Profiles and Critiques temporary Critique of Historic ( 0 d Ae fens has contradicted Marshall's View in order tg of Social Theory (1982) Gidd T N tring forth his own viewpoint He has particularly raised three is (1) Marshall treats the development of citizenship as if it were unfolded in phases according ta.some inner logic w Wild YGidden finds this account an oversimplification of the role of pol. Tow afd the state, as if the whole process was supported and buttressed by Giddens argues that the underprivileged : © _, ‘the beneficent hand of the state’ Gidden © “have achieved their citizenship in substantial degree only through strug. gledthey succeeded to tilt the balance of power in their favour only during thé times of war, particularly during the period of world war; (2) According t Marshall, “development of citizenship has taken place in a ¥ inear manne} Giddens disagrees with him on this point. He argues” hat it was the product of various social movement3\ The varying strength of these movements Ted To Variations in the benefits conceded to the under. privileged. Erosion of welfare rights of the poor during 1970s and 1980s, particularly under Margaret Thatcher (in England) and Ronald Reagon (in the United States) are the cases in point; and (3) Marshall identified three types of rights associated with citizenship: civil, political and social rights. He held that these rights belong to a single cate- gory. On the contrary, Gidden identifies|two typeslof citizenship rights which belong to different categories: (a) Individual freedom and equality before the law signify those civil rights which were largely won by the emergent bourgeoisie through their struggle against the feudal privileges. These rights helped to consolidate industrial capitalism and moder repre- sentative state; and (b) Economic civil rights signify those rights for which working-class and trade-union activists fought against bourgeolssusteny of power. These include workers’ right fo form their union, expand its activities, right to bargaining and right to strike. These rights sought to challenge the dominance of capitalist system. According to Giddens, development of citizenship and modern democracy began in late'sixteenth century with the expansion of state sovereignty and admi istrative build-up. This paved the way for the extension of the state’s capacity for surveillance which implied the collection and storing of information about4 Concept of Citizenship 277 ased the § AS no longer possi alone, More opportuni ofsociely. This type of supervision incre snentb aye forms of social relations. It w: coon nage its affairs by force gate © nate groups to influence th saber ay? expansion of power his recent work The Nation State and Violence (1985) Giddens has seed that contemporary oe is different from nineteenth-century a fae fn, Labour movements have played a prominent role in its transformation ‘h Most of the capitalist countries of today ‘welfare capitalism’ has come into exin : nee whic fepuards the. chi rig of the working class. These civil rights jave_pelped to. consoliente Industrial capitalist system. Thus Giddens has ported from the original tenets of Marxism and has fron Soe ane come round the view that (jzenship rights can be maintained within the structure of liberal democracy. te’s dependence on ible for the modern r Ss Were generated a " ‘ated fo; lers. Giddens has termed this phenomenon pluralist Theory of Citizenship pluralist theory of citizenship treats the develo ory of pment of citizenship as a complex and multi-< imensional rocess.\It cannot be attributed to a single cause. In order “fo understand it we must pay attention to the role of diverse factors that are responsible for its development. David Held.in his Political Theory and the Modern State (1989) has observed that from the ancient world to the present day, citizenship has meant a reciprocal relationship between individual and community. In other words, individual is entitled to certain rights against the community; he also owes certain duties to the coninunity, This fights andl Cuties are interdopendentythey are two sides of the game coin. An individual’s rights imply duties of others; his duties imply rights of _- others.\Essence of citizenship lies in participation in the life of the community. \ Itwould be misleading to regard citizenship only as an outcome of evolution or aproduct of class struggle, As Held has elucidated: “Citizenship is about involve- ment of people in the community in which they live; and people have been barred from citizenship on grounds of gender, race and age among many other factors. To analyse citizenship as if it were a matter of the inclusion or exclusion of social classes is to eclipse from the view a variety of dimensions of social life which have been central to the struggle over citizenship.” (Political Theory and the Modern State: 1989) ss Pluralist theory insists onfinquiring into all ‘types of discrimination against peo\ ple, whether on grounds of, gender, race, religion, property, education, a orage. In the contemporary world so many social movements have been launche against different types of social discrimination. These include feminist boat ment, black movement, religious reform movements, workers’ movement, ch if dalit movement, adivasi movement and ecological tenes cere ei “ecommends that the problem of citi movement, among others: Pluralist theo See oveme zenship should be analysed in Tra directions, analysis of citizenship movements are steadily spreading to ne becomes a subject of continuous research.278 « An Introduction to Political Theory Pluratist theory does not provide for any fixed framework for the analysis yp o the problem of citizenship. I Targely deals with the ever-expanding seope at 4 scenario, The theory itself is in the process of _ Na problem in the contemporary ] ft tion, The direction for its advancement was sie! by BS, Tamer. Chien COMPARATIVE PERS! SPECTIVE ON CITIZENSHIP Lihertarlan Communita- Marxist Pluratisgy vlan Perspective Perspeetiy, The Issue Liberal Perspective Perspective Rational Active Par- Members of Diverse Nature of Indi nae ‘ Giusene Negotiating Consumers ticipants ina Class Groups the Terms of of Public Pursuitof Fighting for” Fighting their Asso- Goods theCom- their Rights Against Dig. ciation mon Good _ against the crimination - Dominant on Various Class Grounds Model ot Welfare. Competitive Close-Knit Workers’ Pluralis their organi- State Market Community State Society zation Society Goal ofcit- Citizens’ Provision of the Com- Workers’ Coexistence izenship Welfare, Necessary monGood Rights without Dis- Public crimination Goods Method of Rational Al- Paying the Citizens’ Class Social location of State for its Participation Struggle Movements goal-attain- ment Benefits and Services Burdens : Exponents TH. Mar- , Robert Hannah Anthony B.S. Turner . shall Nozick Arendt, ~ Giddens Michael Walzer, Benjamin Barber IV CRITIQUES OF CITIZENSHIP In the contemporary world itis being widely argued thatthe prevalent concept of citizenship does not provide for adequate rights for all parts of society. In this con- text two types of critiques are particularly important: (a) the feminist critique; and (b) the subaltern critique.Concept of Citizenship « 279 t Critique eminis! ne Femi? continue (0 : os! ‘sof women in sociely and pr i isis ually thought that after establi it was US init © rom 1960s and ntre of attent and galiet omen were not left with any issue of complaint. After extension of the wor ment, ing leg yo! yote to women, Some studi 0 righ ot women’s participation in voting was lower in comp: ) men fund tet Yquation it was argued that women were la rgely interested in private cali ne affairs; they were less interested in polities and publi and ae had no time to attend to these matters, ta Fer, when size of family began ta shrink and more and more women took lithe above explanation regarding women's sphere of interest was no lon- mrt robe valid Again, it was noticed that more and more women were taking oe voting, but ther share at various levels of political authority had remained ian. While the electorates of various countries of the world had nearly fifty per cent women, their share at the level of political representation was far below that of men. Membership of women in the legislatures of Western Europe was ess than ten per cent. Women’s share in British House of Commons was less than five per cent. The situation in the United States House of Representative was not very different, But the situation in the Scandinavian countries was not that bad. In Sweden and Denmark women’s. membership of legislatures amounted to twenty-six per cent; in Norway it was thirty-four per cent. Inthe sphere of international politics the representation of women is still mea- ue, In November 1990 thirty-four Heads of Government of Buropean countries gathered to sign the his charter of Paris for the New Europe. The marked the end of the Cold War. In new: of voting behaviour were produced. It was ‘Paris: gatherin, x spaper headlinies it was described as the ~ sts ask: “Which era had come to an en : d 1d?” In any case, it in the group-photo of these thirty-four heads of uld be spotted after a thorough search, These iy and Margaret Thatcher, Prime Conference, Mrs. Thatcher also resigned: ister. In this situation, what is the conse- ip to women if their representation in public life and @ man replaced her as Prime Mini quence of granting full citizenshi emains so negligible? In the countries outside Europ: I e and America, women’s representation is very Mmsignificant at the level of poli itical authority although some women have been Successful in attaining top positions. Sri Lanka, Isarel, India, Pakistan and Ban- sladesh have the record of having women Prime Ministers, Buit on the whole, the number of women holding high offices is very small, Some women have excellent Tecord of performance in various important positions, like legislatures, cabinets, weauetacy, diplomacy, journalism, legal profession, fine arts, academics and Scientific Tesearch, etc. This record is an ample proof of the potential of Womanpower. But it is no Proof of opportunities open to women as theit share in Se positions continues to be very meagre.260 * An Introduction to Political Thoory nd doubt that biological differences bere man and woman do not account for their inferior status. The present status wvomen is chiefly a product of social arrangements. Women often spend most gp Treiriime in domestic work and in rearing the children Most women do not pot fan opportunity to develop their own personality. They ate made to believe th the proper sphere of their activity is within home and that they need not take imterest in public life, From the beginning girls are taught fo pay more attention to personal relations, not (0 personal success. Boys are taught to be firm, assertive and aggressive; girls are {aught to be obedient, shy and submissive, Boys are ameotraged to become doctors, engineers and lawyers: girls are encouraged yy become school teachers, nurses OF scerctaries. In short, the experience gaineg by women in their own professional life does not help them to take up a political It has now been proved beyor rect. < Feminists, therefore, women in public = assert that until the condition. of equal participation of fulfilled, the concept of citizenship cannot be brought to ‘In India a beginning in this direction has been made by onecthird of the seats in panchayats for women. This wil to join politics at grass-root level. By and by their representation at this level can be increased to one-half, and provision can also be made for their adequate representation in legislative assemblies and parliament, Opening up of wide opportunities of higher education would also prove to be ingtrumental to their larger representation in administration and high-profile pro- fessions. In this way the idea of citizenship can be realized fully from the feminist point of view. its logical conclusion making reservation encourage women Subaltern Critique of Citizenship The term ‘subalter’ literally means someone ‘of inferior rank’, In social life superior and inferior ranks are quite common. Their identification would be a simple matter. However, problem would arise when people are supposed to be equal as citizens in the legal-formal sense, but they are treated as superior and inferior in actual practice. Subaltern critique of citizenship deals with such situations. The concept of ‘subaltern’ was introduced in social theory by Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937), an Italian Marxist in his analysis of capitalist System. It was applied_ _to those groups in society who were subject to the ‘hegemony’ of the ruling “classes. Hegemony implied the power of the ruling Glass to convince other classes that their interests were the interests of all. In other words, it signified the ability of the ruling class to convince the subject classes that their rule represented the common interest. The subject classes were made to believe that they were being ruled with their consent, : inder capitalist system apparently equal riglits were granted to all citizens. But in actual practice capitalists performed the function of ruling class. Peasants, workers and other subordinate groups who, were denied access.to ‘hese! nic power were described by Gramsci.a ‘subaltern’ classes, Similarly, earlier histor cal stages Wad thi g classes and subaltern classes. Both types © classes played their role in building up human civilization, But history asa disciplineConcept of Citizenship « 281 con the role of the ruling classes, snd igy : r ‘d the role of the (Gramsci observed that this history v4 {te of the subattean eseSs . b u “sided and in chase on an inguity into the role of the subaltern classes tw han Nee: He inate pistoryin other words, stuly of history 3 le the sere hould include vio » SGBAUGHT Ela t ude the support werondded by the staTer vt the ruling classes, the contribution te b je subaltern © s independently, and the organizations and movements, started ihe subaltern classes to oppose the ruling classes> ‘greontemporary social analysis the scope of ‘subaltern theory’ has been con: «iderably expanded. It is now conceded that all the groups who suffer from dre nation on any itrelevant grounds (that is, the grounds ‘an’ status) cart be treated as cut t/subaltern groups’ i ‘Thus any social group that is treated inferior to others on grounds of gender, age socation, class, caste, race, region, religion, language, culture, ete. comes withn the purview of ‘subaltern groups’, The members of these groups may be regarded as full-fledged citizens in the formal sense, but they may be looked down upon by the dominant groups because of some deep-rooted hatred, prejudices or even superstitions. The real causes of their inferior status lie elsewhere. They may be deprived of opportunities to have education and other sources of enlightenment, to enter into modern professions, to participate in the common cultural heritage, or they may lack the means of their legal protection, of building up their organiza- tions and raising their voice against the prevailing injustice, and so on. Enlightened sections of society must come to their rescue if the idea of citizenship has to be realized in the true sense of the term. A) Macknt <¢ 3 O Ado. Vowuc ors juss Oho's Keone oO %& vival VAKIA : menced \nquly : \ Lan 2 Otriechd syndad s feivil Repbuliccrnism | ‘4 Vastrcy