Citation

Berger S. Citizenship Stud. 2009; 13(3): 201-217.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13621020902850619

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In the United States recognition as a battered immigrant can lead to legalization and citizenship for abused women when provisions in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) are applied. To successfully utilize VAWA towards these ends, however, a battered immigrant woman also receives a lesson in cultural restructuring required of citizenship; VAWA establishes the regulations and standards necessary to remake abused immigrants into neoliberal subjects. This essay examines the experiences of undocumented Latina immigrants within the VAWA legal paradigm and explores the ways in which the process artfully crafts the good neoliberal citizen.