PUBLI : Laura Odasso, « Family rights-claiming as act of citizenship : an intersectional perspective on the performance of intimate citizenship », Identities. Global Studies in Culture and Power, 2020 [en ligne]

Ethno­gra­phic and biogra­phical research conducted with mixed-status couples and non-govern­mental orga­ni­sa­tions in France and Belgium provides insights into how the citizen part­ners of mixed-status rela­tion­ships define and assert their family rights. In response to injus­tices suffered, from the state or from the migrant (non-citizen) partner, these citi­zens turned to orga­ni­sa­tions with contras­ting discourses on marriage migra­tion. These orga­ni­sa­tions encou­raged them to parti­ci­pate in collec­tive actions, and to give voice to their inti­mate expe­riences. Drawing on accounts of ‘inti­mate citi­zen­ship’, this article explores the citi­zen­ship-belon­ging nexus through lenses of perfor­ma­ti­vity and inter­sec­tio­na­lity. Gender and ethni­city interact to influence inter­ac­tions between citizen part­ners and the state, the tension between their virtual and actual social iden­ti­ties, and – ulti­ma­tely – their asser­tions of citi­zen­ship, with personal status under­pin­ning public claims. By spea­king and acting in the name of their private lives and choices, these citizen part­ners affirm their (inti­mate) citi­zen­ship through its public performance.