Waubonsee Community College

Fully human, personhood, citizenship, and rights, Lindsey N. Kingston

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-278) and index

index present

non fiction

Fully human

bibliography

1061042197

Lindsey N. Kingston

personhood, citizenship, and rights

Citizenship within our current international system signifies being fully human, or being worthy of fundamental human rights. For some vulnerable groups, however, this form of political membership is limited or missing entirely, and they face human rights challenges despite a prevalence of international human rights law. These protection gaps are central to hierarchies of personhood, or inequalities that render some people more "worthy" than others for protections and political membership. As a remedy, Lindsey N. Kingston proposes the ideal of "functioning citizenship," which requires an active and mutually-beneficial relationship between the state and the individual and necessitates the opening of political space for those who cannot be neatly categorized. It signifies membership in a political community, in which citizens support their government while enjoying the protections and services associated with their privileged legal status. At the same time, an inclusive understanding of functioning citizenship also acknowledges that political membership cannot always be limited by the borders of the state or proven with a passport. Fully Human builds its theory by looking at several hierarchies of personhood, from the stateless to the forcibly displaced, migrants, nomadic peoples, indigenous nations, and "second class" citizens in the United States. It challenges the binary between citizen and noncitizen, arguing that rights are routinely violated in the space between the two. By recognizing these realities, we uncover limitations built into our current international system--but also begin to envision a path toward the realization of human rights norms founded on universality and inalienability. The ideal of functioning citizenship acknowledges the persistent power of the state, yet it does not rely solely on traditional conceptions of citizenship that have proven too flawed and limited for securing true rights protection. -- ‡c Provided by publisher

Preface -- Constructing political membership and worthiness -- Introduction -- The changing value and meaning of citizenship -- Newcomers and noncitizens -- Statelessness and elusive political membership -- Forced displacement and broken ties -- Irregular human movement and the creation of liminal spaces -- Marginalized nations and minorities -- Nomadic peoples and alternate conceptions of space -- Indigenous nations and tribal sovereignty -- Second-class citizens in the "land of the free" -- Creating inclusive forms of membership -- Conveying the problem(s) and representing personhood -- Actualizing the ideal of functioning citizenship