Citizenship

Abstract

This chapter offers an alternative and complementary analysis of the study of constitutional law. The chapter deals with the evolution of case law on citizenship from two different viewpoints: citizenship as an aspiration, in which the objectives of equality, reparation and emancipation of women through the law are studied, and citizenship as belonging, in which the problems of identity and culture as new challenges to the traditional concept of citizenship are analyzed. The chapter highlights the adoption of substantive equality and the support of affirmative actions in Latin America. With regards to emancipation, the chapter shows an evolution towards the support of horizontal effects of fundamental rights. Courts are more willing to accept state intervention in private relations characterized by the defenselessness of one of its members. The chapter also discusses the conflicts that have their origin in the constitutional respect for cultural diversity.