Citizenship and Inequality: The Case of Jerusalem

In: Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies: a multidisciplinary journal, Band 17, Heft 1, S. 43-57

Abstract

Two models of citizenship predominate in Western political thought: the model of ancient warrior and the model of modern producer. Both are traditionally male activities and tend to produce inequalities in society rather than mitigate them. A third model of citizenship exists, reaching back to Aristotle, whose goal is to reduce inequalities and realise a civic friendship among all citizens, but such is generally considered 'unrealistic' today. If we consider the theoretically underappreciated ethical reproductive activities of women, however, together with the Gandhian tradition of non-violent civil disobedience, this third model of political action emerges as possible and may be relevant to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict over Jerusalem.