Situated citizenship: understanding Sikh citizenship through women's exclusion

Abstract

Democratization scholars point to institutional indicators to argue that Indian democracy is consolidated and Indian women are full citizens. I point to another set of data to demonstrate that Indian democracy is at risk because of the gendered nature of citizenship. I argue that institutional indicators tell a very limited story, because they often render women and gender invisible. I analyze situated citizenship through semi-structured, in-depth interview data. I find that respondents naturalize gendered citizenship, which results in a demarcation of home and marriage as the natural space of Sikh women. I find a situation of exclusionary inclusion, where women are an essential part of formal institutional democracy, but are unable to acquire full, substantive citizenship because they are understood as restricted to home and marriage. These results suggest that Indian democracy is weaker than democratization literature would suggest because women experience democracy differentially; women do not have the actual power to be active as citizens, to enjoy a bundle of rights, and to command democratic participation.

“What Guarantees Do We Have?” Legal Tolls and Persistent Impunity for Feminicide in Guatemala

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Impunity and multisided violence in the lives of Latin American women: El Salvador in comparative perspective

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A Role for Lived Experience, Embodiment, and Rehat in Sikh Studies

“…While disciplinary conventions and orientations to the concept can and do differ, when it comes to studies of colonialism, imperialism, patriarchy, or racism, lived experience becomes a critical intervention for reorienting theories of violence and justice. Lived experience offers a way to understand power from the perspective of those who have been historically and continuously disempowered (Behl, 2014;Collins, 2012;Haraway, 1988;Kaur Singh, 2017;Kaur-Bring, 2020;Pandey, 2022). Scholars have convincingly made this case in trying to show the importance of lived experience and standpoint (Mahmood, 1996), as it bridges the gap between the reality of social life and aspirational political claims.…”