Becoming a citizen: habits of national belonging in the United States

Abstract

ABSTRACTGrounded in feminist phenomenology in partnership with everyday citizenship research, this paper examines the everyday, lived experience of citizenship. Arguing that becoming a citizen involves the development of habits of citizenship, I examine felt habits of national belonging especially in the lives of children. How do children learn habits of citizenship that enable and even require citizens to distinguish themselves from those with ambiguous or no citizenship? My answer will be that much of this learning takes place in everyday situations and activities, ones in which the formation of citizenship habits often can seem ‘invisible’ but that are just as important to citizenship as are official procedures and laws. After explaining the theoretical framework of feminist phenomenology, I analyse examples from the lives of children in the United States to illustrate how they learn three related habits of national belonging: (1) habits based on exclusionary citizenship, (2) habits supporting sub-citizenship, and (3) habits grounded in subordinate citizenship. I conclude that rather than abandon the concept of citizenship, feminists need to find ways to transform habits of national belonging into tools for social justice.