LA CITTADINANZA EUROPEA ALLA PROVA DEL GENERE: UNA LETTURA FEMMINISTA DELLA GIURISPRUDENZA DELLA CORTE DI GIUSTIZIA

Abstract

The aim of this contribution is to analyse European citizenship from a feminist point of view, thus supporting what can be called "feminist European citizenship". Among the various declensions of the term "citizenship", which have taken place over time, European citizenship is perhaps the concept that has most highlighted the "conception" of supra- (and post-)national belonging of the individual, that it is therefore not necessarily linked to the State. In fact, national citizenship has strongly exclusive characteristics, both as regards the enjoyment of rights between citizens and foreigners, as regards access to the rights of citizens themselves. This is clear in the discrimination suffered by women because of their citizenship, discrimination which is rooted in two reasons: the erroneous conception of male supremacy over female and the deeply sexualized and "gendered" nature of citizenship, also. These objections can also be made to European citizenship: although it has a cosmopolitan soul undoubtedly, its "mercantile side" allows its rights - such as freedom of movement and residence - to be granted only to those who meet certain economic standards. European citizenship is therefore based on the performance of paid work, thus excluding unpaid care work. The contribution will highlight the need to analyse European citizenship from the point of view of feminist citizenship, that is related to feminist theory, through a brief analysis of some European case-law.