Cultural Practices of Citizenship
under Conditions of Fragmented Sovereignty

How is citizenship practiced under conditions of fragmented national sovereignty? Departing from the recognition that citizenship is not only a legal status based on (birth)-rights and filial duties, but equally a notion tied to the histories of the nation-state, its claims to modernity, and its legacies of colonialism, slavery, and gender inequalities, the project examines citizenship in Curaçao and Bonaire in terms of practices and incipient struggles for political subjectivity. It asks how citizenship is culturally articulated by subjects facing multiple forms of systemic inequalities.

The research project consists of two multi-disciplinary doctoral projects on citizenship in relation to (1) sexual minorities and (2) gender relations, based at the University of Amsterdam and the University of Curaçao respectively.