Women's Citizenship in Northern Ireland after the 1998 Agreement

ABSTRACT This article explores the consequences for women’s citizenship that arise from the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement. It argues that, despite the promises of inclusion and equality set out in the peace document, subsequent institutional arrangements and policy decisions have retained gendered exclusions and reasserted gender stereotypes. With the further institutionalisation of ethnonationalism as the dominant political discourse through the changes ratified in the St Andrews Agreement, the political settlement has failed to address fully the gendered legacy of conflict and fulfil the democratic promises of advancing women’s citizenship claims. However, despite persisting constraints, women continue the pattern of active civic engagement in the community and voluntary sector and pursue lobbying strategies that strive to make their claims relevant in institutionalised policymaking spheres. At the same time, the article maintains that the emergence of new forms of feminist grass-roots activism, exemplified by the Belfast Feminist Network, contributes to enhancing women’s citizenship claims in the broader cultural and social context of post-Agreement Northern Ireland.