The Declaration of Sentiments of 1848. Citizenship, affect and rebellion

Abstract

On 20 July 1848 the Declaration of Sentiments was proclaimed in the American town of Seneca Falls in demand of the women´s right to vote. This was a distinctive foundational moment for feminism as a collective emancipatory movement, mostly based on the arguments included in the Declaration of Independence of 1776 and on its impact in the abolitionist movement. The main objective of this article is to assess the relevance of the concept of citizenship included, not only in the declaration itself, but also and in the way that such concept helped molding the feminist movement in terms of its interpretation of this foundational moment. It is our understanding that, in approaching this question from the perspective of the most recent developments of the theory of affect, we will be able to define a specific concept of feminist citizenship capable of revealing the innovative political role of such movement.