Caregiving for identity is political: implications for citizenship theory

The citizenship literature now renders blurry the boundaries between ‘private’ and ‘public’. Feminist analyses of caregiving have contributed to this evolution. But while feminist circles widely depict caregiving to be on par with employment as a social aspiration and obligation of citizenship, the literature has stopped short of recognizing that caregiving can also represent political citizenship. The author argues that some caregiving for identity should be afforded this status. This recognition has implications for multiscalar approaches to environmental and queer citizenship studies; feminist visions of citizenship that imply a right to time for care; and multicultural citizenship.