Elective evening course: Major Works in Social Sciences (RSO59030)

What is citizenship? Why does it matter? How does it help us understand power in society?
Citizenship serves on one hand, as an apparatus of governance—a mechanism through which power is exercised via institutions, policies, and practices that determine the conditions under which rights are granted or withheld. On the other hand, citizenship is also a tool for empowerment, enabling individuals and groups to claim rights and, on that basis, drive political, social, and environmental change. But how does this process work in practice? And why is it particularly relevant for students aiming to address pressing crises in the environment, ecology, and food systems?

In this elective course we will read and discuss a book that outlines a critical theory of citizenship, with an emphasis on how citizenship institutes power relations and organizes different rights and obligations.

The book is Citizenship: New Trajectories in Law, by Engin Isin. Whether it is the question of the rights of animals, children, migrants, minorities, mothers, or mountains, and whether such rights are protected or guaranteed by national law, international law, or human rights law, the issue of citizenship is prominent.

We will consider how the concept and practice of citizenship is a tool of both domination and emancipation that brings into play the struggles of those who want to protect certain privileges and the struggles of those who are against being caught in either second-class or noncitizen categories.

Teaching staff: Joost Jongerden and Jessica Duncan (RSO)

Questions can be sent to jessica.duncan@wur.nl

About this course
Starts May 13, 2025 – 19:30-21:30
7 sessions (see schedule below)
3 ECTS
Register before February 21: jessica.duncan@wur.nl

All welcome, so long as you are prepared to read, think and engage.

Why this book?
Questions of citizenship are at the top of the political agenda. That is reason enough to read this book. But this book is about much more than citizenship. It is a book about concepts and the power they hold.

The book gives us a theory of citizenship that shows how “citizenship” as a concept holds power that organizes different rights and obligations. In this book, Engin Isin shows how citizenship can be a tool of domination and emancipation. In doing this, the author draws attention to the struggle between those who want to protect certain rights and privileges and those who are excluded, oppressed or even reject those rights. In this way, the book provides an important framework to discuss broader social struggles and sociological theories.

Course Schedule:
Tuesday May 13
Preface & Introduction Introduction of the course, getting to know each other, general introduction to the themes of the book.

Tuesday, May 20
Chapter 1: The fractures of citizenship. This week Isin is in Wageningen

Tuesday May 27
Chapter 2: The sites of enacting citizenship

Tuesday June 3rd
Chapter 3: The senses of enacting citizenship. This week you work on the assignment

June 17
Chapter 4: Citizenship, a revolution subjectivity?

Tuesday June 24
Conclusion: Planetary citizenship

Tuesday July 1
Presentations and BBQ (17:00-21:30)

Note: you need to read the chapter BEFORE class.