Gender and Citizenship

This book, first published in 2000, examines the links between women's social rights and democratic citizenship.

This book, first published in 2000, compares the links between women's social rights and democratic citizenship in three different citizenship models: republican citizenship in France, liberal citizenship in Britain, and social citizenship in Denmark. It contains important research about Scandinavian social policy.Feminist analysis shows that the prevailing concepts of citizenship often assume a male citizen. How, then, does this affect the agency and participation of women in modern democracies? This insightful book, first published in 2000, presents a systematic comparison of the links between women's social rights and democratic citizenship in three different citizenship models: republican citizenship in France, liberal citizenship in Britain, and social citizenship in Denmark. Birte Siim argues that France still suffers from the contradictions of pro-natalist policy, and that Britain is only just starting to re-conceptualise the male-breadwinner model that is still a dominant feature. In her examination of the dual-breadwinner model in Denmark, Siim presents research about Scandinavian social policy and makes an important and timely contribution to debates in political sociology, social policy and gender studies.