The Genuine Article? Canadian Citizenship and Complicated Children

• In Event: The Uses and Disadvantages of Arendt's Concept of the Nation

Abstract

This paper uses the Canadian context to explore contested citizenship determinations for children born abroad with the assistance of reproductive technologies, foreign adoptees and ‘passport’ babies. Each of these cases elicits discussions of genuineness and authenticity with regard to the national belonging that these children are expected to possess. Building on the work of critical citizenship scholars and critiques of birthright citizenship, the paper interrogates invocations of national belonging such as those in the work of Hannah Arendt and the contradictions that such invocations pose to liberal democratic membership.

Author

• Lois Harder, University of Alberta