In this essay, I argue that contemporary democratic theory gives insufficient attention to the important contributions dissenting citizens make to democratic life. Guided by the dissident practices of activist women, I develop a more expansive conception of citizenship that recognizes dissent and an ethic of political courage as vital elements of democratic participation. I illustrate how this perspective on citizenship recasts and reclaims women's courageous dissidence by reconsidering the well-known story of Rosa Parks

Dissident Citizenship: Democratic Theory, Political Courage, and Activist Women’, HollowaySparksHypatia, 12 (4) (1997): 74–110. © by Holloway Sparks. Reproduced with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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