Said Al-Badri's Reading Note # 5: Tupper, J. (2008). Feminism confronts democracy: Challenging universal citizenship and democratic education

Summary:

            Tupper (2008) argues that Canada shows a little consideration for the continuing disappearances and murders of Aboriginal girls and women in the country. As Tupper (2008) notices that women have been marginalized, she decides to discuss citizenship, democracy and education in relation to women. Although Tupper (2008) agrees that education improves people's life, she argues that education has been used as a tool for "cultural transmission", "cultural genocide", and "the maintenance of the status of quo which privileges certain socio-cultural groups at the expense of others" (p. 67). Therefore, Tupper (2008) believes that democratic education has been colonized. In this chapter, Tupper (2008) endeavors to achieve three goals. First, "using feminist socio-political theory", Tupper (2008) "challenge[s] the assumption that democracy exists, particularly as it relates to the lives and experiences of girls and women in schools and in the broader society" (p. 67). Second, Tupper (2008) "examine[s] how women are discursively produced by universal conceptions of citizenship, that are, at the core, inherently masculine" (p. 67). Finally, Tupper (2008) "interrogate[s] the extent to which citizenship education, a significant goal of schooling is used to perpetuate, rather than disrupt, the fallacy of democratic education" (p. 67).

            Tupper (2008) agrees with Pateman (1989) on the subject that democracy has never included women. Pateman (1989) argues that "women have never been and still are not admitted as full and equal members and citizens in any country known as a 'democracy'" (as cited in Tupper, 2008, p. 68). Although a lot of political theorists, as Pateman (1989) highlights, appear to acknowledge that in democracy people are all involved despite of their differences, Pateman (1989) argues that "the social contract is a fraternal pace that constitutes civil society as a patriarchal or masculine order" (as cited in Tupper, 2008, p. 68). Additionally, Tupper (2008) agrees with Pateman (1989) that both public spaces (civil society) and private ones (non-civil society) are inherently masculine. In the public domain, the characters of 'good' citizens such as reason, self-determination, and individual potential, are, as Jubas (2006) argues, first gendered and then valued (Tupper, 2008). Pateman (1989) states that the "civil body politic is fashioned after the image of the male individual who is constituted through the separation of civil society from women" (as cited in Tupper, 2008, p. 69). Although the liberals argue that social inequalities are irrelevant to political equality, Pateman (1989) maintains that these two aspects are integrally connected (Tupper, 2008). For example, the right to vote and the ability to campaign for a certain political party do not remove inequality (Tupper, 2008). Thus, Tupper (2008) argues that as women face social inequalities, they become unable to operate any political agency. Similar to the public sphere, the private realm is an inherently gendered space in which women are less important and less valued (Tupper, 2008). Tupper (2008) uses Helen Betty Osborne, who was murdered by four white men, as an example demonstrating how women are disenfranchised in private spaces. Moreover, Tupper (2008) argues that the racializing and gendering of women's identities make these women become 'second-class citizens'. Tupper (2008) questions the veracity of citizenship and argues that citizenship is falsely universal, complex and layered as it rests upon both difference and sameness. By way of example, Tupper (2008) asks "if security of person is a right that all Canadians are entitled to, then why are some members of the population less likely to enjoy this right than others [for example the aboriginal women]?" (p. 69) Like Pateman (1989), Lister (1997) criticizes the liberal democracies for the "binary thinking that constrains the articulation of women's claims to citizenship" (as cited in Tupper, 2008, p. 70). Tupper (2008) is particularly concerned with citizenship in terms of both status and practice. As status, Tupper (2008) argues that liberal democracies promote what she calls the "meta-narrative of universal citizenship" which "accepts that democracy exists, despite feminist claims to the contrary, and accepts that citizenship exists universally" (p. 70). Tupper (2008) emphasizes that status and practice are often not seen as independent factors because as long as a person is a citizen (status) he/she can be fully involved as a citizen (practice). However, this is precisely where the meta-narrative collapses (Tupper, 2008). Tupper (2008) also stresses that the practices of citizenship are determined by different factors such as gender, race, class, culture, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. Additionally, Tupper (2008) believes that this meta-narrative perpetuates the gendering of citizenship. As women are thought to be mostly emotional and passionate beings who are unable to be rational and reasonable, they are historically believed to be incapable of enacting citizenship which requires rationality and reasonableness (Tupper, 2008). Therefore, Tupper (2008) emphasizes that "[w]omen's citizenship could only ever be second-class as long as they differed, by virtue of being women, from men, and men were used as the standard or norm for understanding citizenship" (p. 70). Moreover, Phillips (2000) argues that it is not only the very reality of being women but also the inequality produced by the differences between men and women that makes women unable to become fully engaged citizens in both public and private spaces (Tupper, 2008).

            In what follows, Tupper (2008) discusses the degree to which schools and school curriculum advance the meta-narrative of universal citizenship which perpetuates "second class" citizenship (p. 72). Tupper (2008) argues that as citizenship objectives are made universal through curriculum, the differences between students are made impossible to see. Additionally, while teachers endeavor to achieve the goals of citizenship education for all students, they "may pay less attention or no attention to the lived experiences of difference their students bring to the classroom" (Tupper, 2008, p. 72). Moreover, although Tupper (2008) recognizes the need for establishing the same goals concerning students' knowledge, skills and attitudes, she emphasizes that these objectives should never reverse the lived experiences of students produced by their race, culture, gender, and class. Tupper (2008) uses the Canadian school curriculum as an example to show how the objectives or rationales of some school curriculum often seem neutral when they are actually partial. Tupper (2008) highlights that "standardizing educational goals does not mean education is democratic. Rather, quite the opposite" (p. 73). Additionally, Tupper (2008) explains how schools and curriculum are used to disguise the false universalism of citizenship. The stories of violence contained in the Stolen Sisters Report emphasize the failures of democracy for Aboriginal women, as well as question the veracity of citizenship (Tupper, 2008).

Assessment, critique and questions:

            I personally found Tupper's (2008) chapter an interesting read as it discusses one of the most pressing issues in the Omani society nowadays. Her point that Aboriginal women have become second-class citizens through the racializing and gendering of their identities resonates with me because it makes me think about the Eastern world's view of Western women. In Oman, people, particularly women, believe that both men and women have equal rights in the Western world. However, reading Tupper's (2008) chapter, I realize that there is discrimination between men and women, in particular Aboriginal ladies, because of gender. This strong bias against women conflicts with how Omani ladies perceive Canadian women. As Omani women consider Canada to be a democratic country, they think that both men and women obtain the same rights and responsibilities as citizens of Canada. However, Tupper (2008) argues that this is not always the case. I personally agree with Pateman (1989) that "women have never been and still are not admitted as full and equal members and citizens in any country known as a 'democracy'" (as cited in Tupper, 2008, p. 68).

            At the beginning of the chapter, Tupper (2008) explains the context in which this chapter has emerged, clearly states the main arguments she wants to advance, and briefly describe the organization of her chapter. Thus, I found that this chapter is easy to follow. Moreover, Tupper (2008) uses real life stories taken from the Stolen Sisters Report along with examples of school curriculum in order to support her arguments. Additionally, I think that the questions, Tupper (2008) asks throughout the chapter, stimulate the readers to think critically and guide them through the content of the chapter. On the other hand, I think that Tupper's (2008) chapter constitutes a one-sided representation of women in citizenship, democracy and education as Tupper (2008) rests upon only female scholars' point of view to support her arguments. Moreover, Tupper (2008) mainly cites the work of just three researchers in her chapter, thus I personally think that her conclusions might not be conclusive. Furthermore, while Tupper (2008) criticizes Canada for treating women as second-class citizens, she does not suggest any solutions to this problem. Additionally, Tupper (2008) uses the example of the murders of aboriginal women in Canada to overgeneralize the idea that all Canadian women are mistreated by men and are unable to obtain the same rights and responsibilities as men. Reading Tupper's (2008) chapter, the following questions came to my mind:

1.      Do Canadian women, other than Aboriginal ladies, have equal rights with men?

2.      Do Aboriginal women, as citizens of Canada, obtain the same rights and responsibilities as men?

3.      Do schools perpetuate the assumption that women's citizenship is second-class by excluding the discussion about the murders of aboriginal women from their curriculum?

4.      Do you agree with Pateman (1989) and Lister (1997) that "women have never experienced citizenship in the same way as men" (as cited in Tupper, 2008, p. 71)?

5.      Do you agree with Phillips (2000) that "equality depends on sameness" (as cited in Tupper, 2008, p. 71)?

6.      Is democracy, including democratic education, really colonized in Canada?

Reference:

Tupper, J. (2008). Feminism confronts democracy: Challenging universal citizenship and democratic education. In A. Abdi & G. Richardson (Eds.). Decolonizing democratic education (pp.67-76). Rotterdam: Sense.