‘Without Papers I Can’t Do Anything’: The Neglected Role of Citizenship Status and ‘Illegality’ in Intersectional Analysis

Intersectionality scholarship has yet to systematically recognize the importance of citizenship status for the mutual shaping of inequalities. In this article, we bring attention to the combined structuring force of criminal law and citizenship status (and the related concepts of ‘illegal’ or ‘irreg...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sociology (Oxford) 2023-02, Vol.57 (1), p.194-210
Main Authors: Damsa, Dorina, Franko, Katja
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citizenship
Criminal law
Criminalization
Disadvantaged
Ethnicity
Female offenders
Imprisonment
Inequality
Intersectionality
Migrants
Overseas sojourners
Prisons
Racialization
Undocumented immigrants
Women
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Summary:Intersectionality scholarship has yet to systematically recognize the importance of citizenship status for the mutual shaping of inequalities. In this article, we bring attention to the combined structuring force of criminal law and citizenship status (and the related concepts of ‘illegal’ or ‘irregular’ status) in intersecting with other categories of social disadvantage, such as those created by racialization, class, gender and ethnicity. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with women in prisons for ‘foreign nationals’ and health clinics for ‘undocumented’ migrants in Norway and Denmark, this article shows how citizenship status has a central role in the co-constitution of gendered, classed and racialized social disadvantages.
ISSN:0038-0385
1469-8684
DOI:10.1177/00380385221096043