Universität Wien

240519 SE MM3 Anthropology of Citizenship: Theorizing Belonging, Power and Deservingness (2025W)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 24 - Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
Continuous assessment of course work

Participation at first session is obligatory!

The lecturer can invite students to a grade-relevant discussion about partial achievements. Partial achievements that are obtained by fraud or plagiarized result in the non-evaluation of the course (entry 'X' in certificate). The plagiarism software 'Turnitin' will be used.
The use of AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) for the attainment of partial achievements is only allowed if explicitly requested by the course instructor.
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

There will be two zoom Consultations:

November 20th, 10h-13h30 (obligatory Presentation Group Consultations)

December 11th, 10h-13h30 (optional)

  • Thursday 09.10. 09:45 - 13:00 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 16.10. 13:15 - 16:30 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
  • Wednesday 07.01. 09:45 - 16:00 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock
  • Thursday 08.01. 09:45 - 16:00 Seminarraum A, NIG 4. Stock
  • Friday 09.01. 09:45 - 16:00 Übungsraum (A414) NIG 4. Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Course Goals

The course will provide the students with both an overview of citizenship theory - in anthropology and beyond - as well as the opportunity to work on case-studies of their own choice. In this way it will enhance their comparative-theoretical competency as well as the ability to critically apply anthropological and interdisciplinary theoretical knowledge to particular cases in depth.

Course Content

The course will start with a historical and conceptual overview of citizenship and will situate citizenship in a broad sense as the fundamental “right to have rights” including civic, political, and social citizenship (Marshall 1950). It will draw on literature on the interrelationship between citizenship, social class, and in/equality, feminist approaches, approaches to citizenship and migration, and deservingness. The conceptual foci of the course are: Transnational/Dual Citizenship, Affective Citizenship, "Neoliberal" Citizenship, Digital Citizenship, Informal/"illegal" Citizenship, Investor Citizenship, Deserving Citizenship and Gendering/Queering Citizenship.

The students will be provided with a heuristic model for exploring Citizenship based on the dimensions of Belonging, Power and Deservingness; and will have the opportunity to consult recommended and search for further literature as well as conduct explorative research/interviews.

Course Structure

The course consists of a combination of inputs by the lecturer, student presentations, discussions and videos/films.
In the first two sessions of the course, the students receive an introduction to the course topic as well as relevant theoretical approaches and seminal texts on the topic. In the rest of the couese sessions, presentation groups present topics using texts and case studies.

Assessment and permitted materials

Group Presentation (40 points of the grade)

The presentation groups have the task to present and discuss a particular concept/aspect of citizenship based on: 1) theoretical literature and 2) a concrete related case study to which the theoretical notion(s) presented will be applied (e.g. debate, event, institution, phenomenon etc.).
Furthermore, the task of the presentation group is to include the audience into meaningful discussions. Different methods can be used: discussion questions; small discussion groups; polls; videos etc.
The presentation group reads the two texts proposed by the lecturer and chooses a third text autonomously (related to the case to be presented).

Seminar Paper (60 points of the grade)

-) The individual seminar paper will represent a further elaboration of the presentation or focus on another theme relevant for the course
-) min. 5 references; Books or articles; Internet sources as well, however they should be scientific sources; indicate access date to internet sources; citation mode should be consistent (e.g. Chicago Style)

No aids

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Minimum requirement: participating in a Group Presentation (40 points of the grade), Seminar Paper (60 points of the grade), active participation in discussions and regular attendance (two 90min units can be missed)

Grading Key:
100-91 - very good (1)
90-81 - good (2)
80-71 - satisfactory (3)
70-61 - sufficient (4)
60-0 - failed (5)

Examination topics

Exam requirement:

Working with the literature and the chosen case-study for the presentation (1 hour + 30 minutes of discussion, interaction, reflection; 40 points of the grade)
Seminar Paper (based on the presentation or on another topic within the scope of the course; 10 pages; 60 points of the grade)

Reading list

Recommended basic readings:

Bellamy, Richard (2008). Citizenship. A very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press.
Bellamy, Richard and Madleine Kennedy-Macfoy, (2014). Citizenship. Critical Concepts in Political Science (Volume 1& 2). Routledge.
Isin, Engin F. and Bryan S. Turner (2002). Handbook of Citizenship Studies. Sage.
Shafir, Gershon (1998). The Citizenship Debates. A Reader. University of Minnesota Press.
Sian, Lazar (2016). Citizenship, In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology (eds) F. Stein, S. Lazar, M. Candea, H. Diemberger, J. Robbins, A. Sanchez & R. Stasch. http://doi.org/10.29164/16citizensh (p, 1-11)
Sommers, Margaret S. (2008). Genealogies of Citizenship. Markets, Statelessness and the Right to have Rights. Cambridge University Press.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Fr 30.01.2026 21:27