Reconstructing the Concept of Citizenship - Performative Space for Demanding Rights and a Case of Helsinki City Museum’s Sex Work Exhibition

Citizenship becomes realized through multiple overlapping forms one of which being ‘sexual citizenship’ which is considered in Nira Yuval Davis’ theory of belonging. Sexuality and intimacy are usually excluded from idea of citizenship, as something private, while at the same time they have been rooted deeply in the hegemonic understandings of accepted citizens. Exclusion of certain kind of sexualities from citizenship does not only have an impact on people’s sexuality and sexual behavior but also shapes society and rights in a wider way maintaining the appropriate gender ideals, labor market and immigration policies, just to mention few. During 21st century, especially in post-#MeToo-era, sexual practices challenging the reproductivity have become more openly as a topic public debates Western world. This has given new possibilities for marginalized and stigmatized groups, such as sex workers studied in this paper, to define their identities and resist the misconceptions and oppression in public space. As a part discussion on sexual emancipation of women and LGBTQIA+ community members, the Nordic model of sex work regulation which traditionally has promoted strong public opinions on sex work purely as a violation of human rights have been challenged by sex workers demanding rights and recognition without quitting their job. In my paper, I analyze the process of changing conception of sex work by opening a window to current situation in Finland. The paper examines performative space and visibility in the boundary making processes linked to sex work and sex workers’ demands as citizens which shapes the conception sexual citizenship in connection to societal rights, migration, and equal recognition. In my paper, I study an exceptional sex work exhibition in Helsinki city museum in 2022–2023. The exhibition was built in cooperation with sex workers giving a platform for marginalized voices in the urban space. The paper discusses on the (re)construction of collective imagination and resistance by paying attention to textual, (audio)visual and spatial elements of the data collected from the exhibition. The study connects conception of belonging of Nira Yuval Davis with Butlerian gender theory. The aim is to understand the emancipatory dimension of performative theory widening the understanding of counteraction and activism against dominant articulations of accepted citizenship. I analyze the data in framework of postfoundational discourse analysis which offers tools to examine how the shared meanings, intertwined in the physical space, shape society. The paper shows that wider societal understanding of conception of sexual citizenship and studying it in case of sex work makes the causes of exclusion transparent and is in a core when defining comprehensive citizenship.