International citizenship law: A feminist approach

Organised by

• Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies
• GGP: Global Governance Programme
• GlobalCit: Global Citzenship Observatory

What constitutes indirect discrimination based on sex in the nationality laws of states? And what is the role of international law in constraining these practices? Liberal democracies share a commitment to the value of equality, yet they are far from achieving substantive equality between the sexes. Women do not share in the same material or participatory equality as men; they have (generally speaking) less property, lower incomes, and are more financially dependent. This article explores the regulation of sex equality by international law in the nationality practice of states. The first part traces the growth of international citizenship law as it has been intertwined with developments in women’s citizenship. The second one reflects on discrimination law and discusses which common naturalisation requirements indirectly discriminate towards women. And the third part suggests three ways international law can further mitigate cases of sex discrimination in citizenship law by i) advancing the theory of genuine link; ii) procedural changes to citizenship acquisition guided by the Committee to Eliminate all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); and iii) institutional changes to CEDAW itself. This article contributes normative analysis to the future governance of citizenship by offering ways in which state practices can be transformed.