The struggle of the disadvantage and the marginalized for rights as well as improved conditions, and especially the rights of citizenship, is a prominent thread running through the history of the West. Politicial theorists have been writing about citizenship for over two thousand years, and it has been practiced for even longer. No wonder, therefore, that the concept and status of citizenship have accumulated a complex variety of interpretations. However, no age before ours has had such a widespread and pressing need to understand these accounts. Modern citizenship has developed not only as a consequence of popular democratic pressures, but also in response to the ruling-class's requirements for security, a factor ignored by many theorists of citizenship. Today, citizenship is generally taken to include a universal right to a level of economic and social well-being in addition to the rights of equality before the law and political participation. Modern citizenship, comprising at least universal civil, political and social rights, is not only complex but fraught with internal tension as the distinct right which constitute it tend to generate different and sometimes contradictory pressures. This book explains why an understanding of citizenship rights is important for social and political analysis, and goes on to treat both the relationship between the distinct elements of citizenship and its effects on class inequality, on social and political integration, and on the structure and operation on the state. Current approaches to modern citizenship began with the publication by T.H. Marshall's 'Citizenship and Social Class' in 1950. This book dealing directly with the historical development of modern citizenship and its social and political consequences, offers a distinctive interpretation and critique of T.H. Marshall's theory, and makes a modest contribution to the debate generated by Marshall.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Rise of Citizenship, The idea of cosmopolis, Legal definitions, Equality or elitism?, Multiple citizenship, Parallel citizenship, Federal constitution,The european union Chapter 3: The Liberal Tradition, Citizenship and capitalism, Dialectics of rights and duties, The Citizen as consumer, The assurance game Chapter 4: The Civic Republican Tradition, The general will and moral freedom, Making citizens of men, Purpose of citizenship, Style of citizenship, Qualities of citizenship, Role of the citizenship, Forming the citizenship, Revival and arguments Chapter 5: Marshall's Theory of Citizenship, Giddens versus Marshall, The roots of modern citizenship, Citizenship, rights and obligations Chapter 6: Citizenship and Minority Rights, Discourse on minority rights, Discourse over citizenship, Respecting diversity, Issues and tensions in the face of minority rights, Arguments for group rights, Citizenship, equality and difference, Bhikhu Parekh and multiculturalism Chapter7: Feminism and Citizenship, Globalisation and feminism, Transforming states, Gendered transformations, Gender and the global division of labour, Boundary defence/Boundary transgressions, Resisting identities/Resisting Globalisation, Conclusion: The way forward Chapter 8: Expanding Citizenship, Citizenship and political community, Rethinking social rights, Intimate citizenship, World citizenship and morality, World law and the citizen, World governance and the citizen, Cosmopolitan Democracy Chapter 9: Citizenship and Globalisation, Globalisation and citizenship, Human rights and citizenship, Citizenship beyond the state, A postmodern citizenship Conclusion, The revolt against politics, The state versus the market, Civil society versus the state, Citizenship and nationalism, Citizenship and need.