FEMINIST FORESIGHT IN STATELESSNESS:
CENTURY-OLD CITIZENSHIP EQUALITY
CAMPAIGNS
DEIRDRE BRENNAN *
It may have appeared to many working in the statelessness sector, or those campaigning against
gender discriminatory nationality laws, that until the launch of the Global Campaign for Equal
Nationality Rights in 2014, efforts to eradicate such laws were largely only coordinated on a
national level. This article, however, uncovers a hidden period in statelessness history: the
citizenship equality campaigns of the early 1900s. Through an exploration of these campaigns,
their vibrant tactics and eccentric characters, this article provides a feminist revisionist history of
statelessness activism and academia that aims to adjust dominant narratives in contemporary
statelessness literature.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
*
Introduction............................................................................................................. 44
Methodology ........................................................................................................... 46
Limitations .............................................................................................................. 46
Part 1: Feminist Revisionist History — 1900s Campaigning.................................. 46
A Introduction ................................................................................................ 46
B Background................................................................................................. 47
1
The 1791 Citoyennes Passives ....................................................... 47
2
Nineteenth Century Beginnings ..................................................... 48
C Protest Preparations Begin ......................................................................... 48
D Conflict at the Peace Palace........................................................................ 50
E The Convention on Certain Questions Relating to the Conflict of
Nationality Laws 1930 ................................................................................ 51
F
The Convention on the Nationality of Women 1933................................... 54
G The Ferocity of the Feminist Cause ............................................................ 54
H The End of the Campaigns?........................................................................ 57
Part 2: Decentring Statelessness History — A Discussion ..................................... 57
A Introduction ................................................................................................ 57
B Feminist Ferocity and Foresight ................................................................. 58
C Overcoming Opposition ............................................................................. 60
D A Whitewashed and a Forgotten History ................................................... 61
Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 62
PhD Candidate, Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness. This article would have neither
started, nor finished, without Zahra Albarazi’s words of encouragement and knowledgeable
advice. My thanks to Zahra for the generosity of her time in discussing all things Citizenship
Equality Campaigning, in the month-long writing retreat she unintentionally signed up for, in
Melbourne, in early 2020. The language and format of the article have benefited enormously
from my father, Michael Brennan, another unwitting accomplice thanks to the forces of a
lockdown. I am also extremely grateful to the two anonymous peer reviewers who volunteered
their time to provide thorough and considered feedback. Finally, my thanks to my supervisors
Susan Kneebone, Michelle Foster and Ana Dragojlovic, for their support and advice
throughout the writing of this article.