Citizenship and the Centenary: Inclusion and Exclusion in 20th Century Australia

Posted: 29 May 2001

Abstract

This article looks at citizenship as both a legal formal notion, and as a normative notion. While the legal citizen is primarily concerned with the formal status of individuals in the community (compared to permanent and temporary residents), the normative citizen looks to broader concepts, speaking of membership regardless of a person's formal status. The consequence of these different meanings is that citizenship has been expressed in both inclusive and exclusive ways throughout the 20th century. The article displays this by looking at the beginnings of citizenship in Australia before the legal status was formalised, then the first fifty years of the formal status, and finally at the legislative and common law expressions of citizenship. It argues that the confused and often contradictory messages of citizenship require us to be more mindful in the 21st century about the relationship between the formal and normative meanings of the term.

JEL Classification: K30

Suggested Citation

Rubenstein, Kim, Citizenship and the Centenary: Inclusion and Exclusion in 20th Century Australia. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=270910

Kim Rubenstein (Contact Author)

ANU College of Law ( email )

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200
Australia

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