an article by Mairin Hennebry-Leung (University of Hong Kong) and Florence Bonacina-Pugh (University of Edinburgh, UK) published in Citizenship Studies Volume 23 Issue 8 (2019)
Abstract
The 2014 Scottish Referendum gauged public opinion on the possibility of Scotland leaving the United Kingdom, raising significant questions about the legitimacy of claims to citizenship in the event of independence.
Through a mixed methods survey, this study explored the ways in which citizenship emerged in popular discourse in the lead up to the Scottish referendum.
Findings point to an emphasis in public discourse on a commitment to and participation in society, instead of the more traditional citizenship markers of ancestry, birthplace or residency.
Data indicates a view of citizenship encompassing status and practice, while identity was framed in terms of more static notions of birthplace and ancestry.
The salience of social participation was noticeably greater in respondents’ assessment of others’ potential Scottish citizenship than their own. Specifically, the study highlights the salience of relational aspects of citizenship in popular discourse, with an emphasis on social citizenship in preference to legal citizenship.
The study constitutes a significant contribution to ongoing discussions about ‘participatory citizenship’ in the field of Citizenship studies, by providing much needed empirical data on social conceptualisations of citizenship.
Showing posts with label citizenship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label citizenship. Show all posts
Friday, 22 November 2019
Wednesday, 11 September 2019
Stakeholder identities in Britain's neoliberal ethical community: Polish narratives of earned citizenship in the context of the UK's EU referendum
an article by Derek McGhee (Keele University, UK; University of Southampton, UK), Chris Moreh (York St. John University, UK; University of Southampton, UK) and Athina Vlachantoni (University of Southampton, UK) published in The British Journal of Sociology Volume 70 Issue 4 (September 2019)
Abstract
This article examines the narrative strategies through which Polish migrants in the UK challenge the formal rights of political membership and attempt to redefine the boundaries of ‘citizenship’ along notions of deservedness.
The analysed qualitative data originate from an online survey conducted in the months before the 2016 EU referendum, and the narratives emerge from the open‐text answers to two survey questions concerning attitudes towards the referendum and the exclusion of resident EU nationals from the electoral process.
The analysis identifies and describes three narrative strategies in reaction to the public discourses surrounding the EU referendum – namely discursive complicity, intergroup hostility and defensive assertiveness – which attempt to redefine the conditions of membership in Britain's ‘ethical community’ in respect to welfare practices. Examining these processes simultaneously ‘from below’ and ‘from outside’ the national political community, the paper argues, can reveal more of the transformation taking place in conceptions of citizenship at the sociological level, and the article aims to identify the contours of a ‘neoliberal communitarian citizenship’ as internalized by mobile EU citizens.
Abstract
This article examines the narrative strategies through which Polish migrants in the UK challenge the formal rights of political membership and attempt to redefine the boundaries of ‘citizenship’ along notions of deservedness.
The analysed qualitative data originate from an online survey conducted in the months before the 2016 EU referendum, and the narratives emerge from the open‐text answers to two survey questions concerning attitudes towards the referendum and the exclusion of resident EU nationals from the electoral process.
The analysis identifies and describes three narrative strategies in reaction to the public discourses surrounding the EU referendum – namely discursive complicity, intergroup hostility and defensive assertiveness – which attempt to redefine the conditions of membership in Britain's ‘ethical community’ in respect to welfare practices. Examining these processes simultaneously ‘from below’ and ‘from outside’ the national political community, the paper argues, can reveal more of the transformation taking place in conceptions of citizenship at the sociological level, and the article aims to identify the contours of a ‘neoliberal communitarian citizenship’ as internalized by mobile EU citizens.
Thursday, 29 August 2019
The UK Citizenship Process: Political Integration or Marginalization?
an article by (David Bartram, University of Leicester, UK) published in Sociology Volume 53 Issue 3 (August 2019)
Abstract
The UK ‘citizenship process’ subjects immigrants to requirements ostensibly intended to enhance their identification with ‘British values’. Policy-makers suggest the policy will facilitate immigrants’ integration: as they learn about ‘life in the UK’, they will become better able to understand and navigate core institutions. Many external observers, by contrast, believe that the requirements exacerbate immigrants’ marginalization.
I use panel data from ‘Understanding Society’ to investigate political participation among non-citizen immigrants at Wave 1, comparing those who became citizens by Wave 6 to those who remained non-citizens. Those who became citizens subsequently reported lower interest in politics, relative to those who remained non-citizens; in addition, they were not more likely to be active in organizations (e.g. political parties and trade unions).
These findings reinforce the concerns of critics: the UK citizenship policy appears to do more to alienate new citizens than it does to facilitate their integration in the political sphere.
Full text (PDF 18pp)
Abstract
The UK ‘citizenship process’ subjects immigrants to requirements ostensibly intended to enhance their identification with ‘British values’. Policy-makers suggest the policy will facilitate immigrants’ integration: as they learn about ‘life in the UK’, they will become better able to understand and navigate core institutions. Many external observers, by contrast, believe that the requirements exacerbate immigrants’ marginalization.
I use panel data from ‘Understanding Society’ to investigate political participation among non-citizen immigrants at Wave 1, comparing those who became citizens by Wave 6 to those who remained non-citizens. Those who became citizens subsequently reported lower interest in politics, relative to those who remained non-citizens; in addition, they were not more likely to be active in organizations (e.g. political parties and trade unions).
These findings reinforce the concerns of critics: the UK citizenship policy appears to do more to alienate new citizens than it does to facilitate their integration in the political sphere.
Full text (PDF 18pp)
Friday, 23 August 2019
Characterising Citizenship: Race, Criminalisation and the Extension of Internal Borders
an article by Nisha Kapoor (University of Warwick, UK) and Kasia Narkowicz (University of Gloucestershire, UK) published in Sociology Volume 53 issue 4 (August 2019)
Abstract
Citizenship in the UK has in recent times been explicitly framed as a privilege not a right, granted selectively and withdrawn from some.
There are several criteria that assist the government in distinguishing those deserving of British citizenship from those undeserving, one of the key ones being ‘character’. The ‘bad character’ criterion can apply for multiple reasons from inconsistencies in immigration paperwork to direct or indirect political associations with a range of disavowed political groups.
Although not new, ‘bad character’ has become a principle reason for citizenship refusals in recent years, though has received little academic scrutiny. By bringing together quantitative and qualitative data on citizenship refusals, the article maps the scale of this measure, outlining what it means and to whom it applies.
It argues that the ‘bad character’ criterion operates as a racialised exclusionary mechanism that constitutes a new set of amorphous restrictions upon the lives of non-white denizens.
Abstract
Citizenship in the UK has in recent times been explicitly framed as a privilege not a right, granted selectively and withdrawn from some.
There are several criteria that assist the government in distinguishing those deserving of British citizenship from those undeserving, one of the key ones being ‘character’. The ‘bad character’ criterion can apply for multiple reasons from inconsistencies in immigration paperwork to direct or indirect political associations with a range of disavowed political groups.
Although not new, ‘bad character’ has become a principle reason for citizenship refusals in recent years, though has received little academic scrutiny. By bringing together quantitative and qualitative data on citizenship refusals, the article maps the scale of this measure, outlining what it means and to whom it applies.
It argues that the ‘bad character’ criterion operates as a racialised exclusionary mechanism that constitutes a new set of amorphous restrictions upon the lives of non-white denizens.
Thursday, 20 June 2019
Governing imperial citizenship: a historical account of citizenship revocation
an article by Deirdre Troy (Queen Mary University of London, UK) published in Citizenship Studies Volume 23 Issue 4 (2019)
Abstract
In recent years, citizenship revocation has become synonymous with terrorism, regarded as a practice reserved for the most dangerous of citizens. Yet in the UK revocation has a much longer history, spanning over 100 years, with a narrative that extends beyond the nation-state and into Empire.
This paper asks what may be learned from a historical account of citizenship revocation?
Exploring its emergence as part of the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914, this account suggests that revocation should not be analyzed in isolation but as a practice embedded in polices of immigration, naturalization, and emigration.
This paper illustrates the ways in which these policies code subjects based on race, class and gender in order to govern their mobility. From this study, it argues that citizenship revocation cannot be explained solely through security claims and suggests that the 2018 cases should be considered in the context of revocation’s history.
Abstract
In recent years, citizenship revocation has become synonymous with terrorism, regarded as a practice reserved for the most dangerous of citizens. Yet in the UK revocation has a much longer history, spanning over 100 years, with a narrative that extends beyond the nation-state and into Empire.
This paper asks what may be learned from a historical account of citizenship revocation?
Exploring its emergence as part of the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914, this account suggests that revocation should not be analyzed in isolation but as a practice embedded in polices of immigration, naturalization, and emigration.
This paper illustrates the ways in which these policies code subjects based on race, class and gender in order to govern their mobility. From this study, it argues that citizenship revocation cannot be explained solely through security claims and suggests that the 2018 cases should be considered in the context of revocation’s history.
Monday, 17 June 2019
Simply a matter of compliance with the rules? The moralising and responsibilising function of fraud-based citizenship deprivation in France and the UK
an article by Émilien Fargues (Centre de recherches politiques, Sciences Po Paris, France) published in Citizenship Studies Volume 23 Issue 4 (June 2019)
Abstract
Scholarship largely sees fraud-based citizenship stripping as a tool for guaranteeing the consistency of the naturalisation process against applicants who do not respect the rules. This implies that the line between ‘desirable’ and ‘undesirable’ citizens is drawn in accordance with procedural norms.
In contrast, this article argues that deprivation on grounds of fraud aims to create a virtuous and responsible political subject.
Drawing on the cases of France and the UK, the paper shows how government officials and judges understand citizenship deprivation not simply as a means to safeguard the procedural integrity of naturalisation, but as a mechanism for the moralisation and responsibilisation of applicants.
The article further contends that not everyone is made the subject of ‘renationalisation’. British and French deprivation policies reproduce suspicions and stereotypes against specific categories of migrants, constructing them as second-class citizens.
Abstract
Scholarship largely sees fraud-based citizenship stripping as a tool for guaranteeing the consistency of the naturalisation process against applicants who do not respect the rules. This implies that the line between ‘desirable’ and ‘undesirable’ citizens is drawn in accordance with procedural norms.
In contrast, this article argues that deprivation on grounds of fraud aims to create a virtuous and responsible political subject.
Drawing on the cases of France and the UK, the paper shows how government officials and judges understand citizenship deprivation not simply as a means to safeguard the procedural integrity of naturalisation, but as a mechanism for the moralisation and responsibilisation of applicants.
The article further contends that not everyone is made the subject of ‘renationalisation’. British and French deprivation policies reproduce suspicions and stereotypes against specific categories of migrants, constructing them as second-class citizens.
Monday, 11 February 2019
Deserving citizenship? Exploring migrants' experiences of the ‘citizenship test’ process in the United Kingdom
an article by Pierre Monforte and Leah Bassel (University of Leicester, UK) and Kamran Khan (Universitat de Lleida, Spain and King's College London, UK) published in The British Journal of Sociology Volume 70 Issue 1 (2019)
Abstract
Since the early 2000s several European countries have introduced language and citizenship tests as new requirements for access to long‐term residence or naturalization. The content of citizenship tests has been often presented as exclusionary in nature, in particular as it is based on the idea that access to citizenship has to be ‘deserved’.
In this paper, we aim to explore the citizenship tests ‘from below’, through the focus on the experience of migrants who prepare and take the ‘Life in the UK’ test, and with particular reference to how they relate to the idea of ‘deservingness’.
Through a set of in‐depth interviews with migrants in two different cities (Leicester and London), we show that many of them use narratives in which they distinguish between the ‘deserving citizens’ and the ‘undeserving Others’ when they reflect upon their experience of becoming citizens. In so doing, they negotiate new hierarchies of inclusion into and exclusion from citizenship, which reflect broader neo‐liberal and ethos‐based conceptions of citizenship.
Full text (PDF 20pp)
Abstract
Since the early 2000s several European countries have introduced language and citizenship tests as new requirements for access to long‐term residence or naturalization. The content of citizenship tests has been often presented as exclusionary in nature, in particular as it is based on the idea that access to citizenship has to be ‘deserved’.
In this paper, we aim to explore the citizenship tests ‘from below’, through the focus on the experience of migrants who prepare and take the ‘Life in the UK’ test, and with particular reference to how they relate to the idea of ‘deservingness’.
Through a set of in‐depth interviews with migrants in two different cities (Leicester and London), we show that many of them use narratives in which they distinguish between the ‘deserving citizens’ and the ‘undeserving Others’ when they reflect upon their experience of becoming citizens. In so doing, they negotiate new hierarchies of inclusion into and exclusion from citizenship, which reflect broader neo‐liberal and ethos‐based conceptions of citizenship.
Full text (PDF 20pp)
Sunday, 31 December 2017
From ‘me towns’ to ‘we towns’: activist citizenship in UK town centres
an article by Julian Dobson (Sheffield Hallam University, UK) published in Citizenship Studies Volume 21 Issue 8 (2017)
Abstract
Britain’s town centres have witnessed economic, social and physical upheaval over more than half a century, linked to sweeping changes in retailing and consumption. Yet they are also places where activists are seeking to fashion alternative futures and test social and economic models that challenge neoliberal norms.
Reflecting on recent developments in the UK, this paper explores the potential of citizen-led economic activism in British town and city centres.
Focusing on three case studies of urban activism, it contrasts policies and practices that frame the users of urban space as consumers with the marginal acts that seek to assert wider rights to the city.
The article shows how ideas of ‘resilience’ have become a stake of struggle in debates over the future of urban centres and urban citizenship, deployed both to defend neoliberal economic configurations and to signal radical transitions towards more participatory and economically autonomous forms of society.
Abstract
Britain’s town centres have witnessed economic, social and physical upheaval over more than half a century, linked to sweeping changes in retailing and consumption. Yet they are also places where activists are seeking to fashion alternative futures and test social and economic models that challenge neoliberal norms.
Reflecting on recent developments in the UK, this paper explores the potential of citizen-led economic activism in British town and city centres.
Focusing on three case studies of urban activism, it contrasts policies and practices that frame the users of urban space as consumers with the marginal acts that seek to assert wider rights to the city.
The article shows how ideas of ‘resilience’ have become a stake of struggle in debates over the future of urban centres and urban citizenship, deployed both to defend neoliberal economic configurations and to signal radical transitions towards more participatory and economically autonomous forms of society.
Thursday, 21 December 2017
Progress on Personalised Support
a post by Simon Duffy and Sam Sly for the Centre for Welfare Reform blog
Despite all the talk about personalisation in the UK actual progress has been very slow. While several support organisations have been developing more flexible and creative forms of support these are not being promoted by commissioners or by Government.
This report is the result of an international online survey. The survey demonstrates that:
Full text report (PDF 56pp)
a post by Simon Duffy and Sam Sly for the Centre for Welfare Reform blog
Despite all the talk about personalisation in the UK actual progress has been very slow. While several support organisations have been developing more flexible and creative forms of support these are not being promoted by commissioners or by Government.
This report is the result of an international online survey. The survey demonstrates that:
- Organisations offering personalised support can be found all around the world
- A coherent pattern of personalised support is emerging from these developments
- Current models of funding and thinking do not promote this way of working
- Citizenship is the goal – People are supported to enjoy all their rights as full citizens, playing a full part in community life and developing to their utmost as a full human being
- Fully individualised – Service design, planning, housing, staffing and management are all organised around the needs and capabilities of the individual and their family
- Working in partnership – Professionals are respectful of the expertise of the person and their family and accountable to them for their work
- Committed and flexible – Professionals do not abandon people when times get tough, they stick with it and figure out the best solutions, changing things quickly to get it right
- Creative and resourceful – Support solutions are identified that build on the person’s real wealth and the resources of their community
- We connected people and organisations more effectively
- We were more willing to build on existing good practice
- We were willing to provide information and practical assistance to each other
Full text report (PDF 56pp)
Saturday, 16 December 2017
Alternative citizenship models: Contextualizing new media and the new “good citizen”
an article by Neta Kligler-Vilenchik (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel) published in New Media & Society Volume 19 Issue 11 (November 2017)
Abstract
Much current literature examines ways in which civic norms and practices are being enacted, developed and experimented with in the realm of new media.
Yet an open question pertains to the role the new media environment plays in this process: Are changes in civic conceptions reliant on new media, or is it an arena in which such changes are enacted and enhanced?
This essay addresses this question by contextualizing citizenship models that theorize the role of new media, as part of a broader paradigm of “alternative citizenship models”. What threads together this paradigm is an argument about a change in what constitutes “good citizenship”; a change seen not as a decline from a previous standard, but as the manifestation of a new citizenship model.
This article maps the landscape of alternative citizenship models and investigates the role of new media in reshaping citizenship.
Abstract
Much current literature examines ways in which civic norms and practices are being enacted, developed and experimented with in the realm of new media.
Yet an open question pertains to the role the new media environment plays in this process: Are changes in civic conceptions reliant on new media, or is it an arena in which such changes are enacted and enhanced?
This essay addresses this question by contextualizing citizenship models that theorize the role of new media, as part of a broader paradigm of “alternative citizenship models”. What threads together this paradigm is an argument about a change in what constitutes “good citizenship”; a change seen not as a decline from a previous standard, but as the manifestation of a new citizenship model.
This article maps the landscape of alternative citizenship models and investigates the role of new media in reshaping citizenship.
Tuesday, 31 October 2017
The radicalisation of citizenship deprivation
an article by Tufyal Choudhury (Durham University, UK) published in Critical Social Policy
Volume 37 Issue 2 (2017)
Abstract
This article addresses the regulation of citizenship in the UK, in particular the recent increased powers of citizenship deprivation against individuals suspected of involvement in terrorism. It examines the genealogy of such a practice and explains the juridical context of its use.
It argues that changes in citizenship policies, broadening state power and removing substantive and procedural safeguards, have eroded equal citizenship by creating a hierarchy among British citizens. This radical policy shift has been enacted in the context of counter radicalisation policies that posit commitment to British values as a key weapon in the ‘war on terror’.
Muslims are at best ‘Tolerated Citizens’, required to demonstrate their commitment to British values. Muslims holding unacceptable extremist views are ‘Failed Citizens’ while the ‘home-grown’ radicalised terrorist suspect is conceived of as the barbaric Other to British values, whose failure as a citizen is severe enough to justify the deprivation of citizenship.
Full text (PDF 25pp) via Durham University
Abstract
This article addresses the regulation of citizenship in the UK, in particular the recent increased powers of citizenship deprivation against individuals suspected of involvement in terrorism. It examines the genealogy of such a practice and explains the juridical context of its use.
It argues that changes in citizenship policies, broadening state power and removing substantive and procedural safeguards, have eroded equal citizenship by creating a hierarchy among British citizens. This radical policy shift has been enacted in the context of counter radicalisation policies that posit commitment to British values as a key weapon in the ‘war on terror’.
Muslims are at best ‘Tolerated Citizens’, required to demonstrate their commitment to British values. Muslims holding unacceptable extremist views are ‘Failed Citizens’ while the ‘home-grown’ radicalised terrorist suspect is conceived of as the barbaric Other to British values, whose failure as a citizen is severe enough to justify the deprivation of citizenship.
Full text (PDF 25pp) via Durham University
Tuesday, 28 March 2017
Learning to live with irregular migration: towards a more ambitious debate on the politics of ‘the problem’
an article by Anne McNevin (The New School for Social Research, New York, USA) published in Citizenship Studies Volume 21 Issue 3 (2017)
Abstract
What might be gained by learning to live with ‘the problem’ of irregular migration, rather than attempting to solve it?
This article engages two senses of ‘the problem’ at stake: first, the ongoing nature of displacement and migration and second, the contested justice claims that sit behind different policy perspectives.
The second sense of the problem (its political dimension) is rarely addressed explicitly in public debate. Yet direct engagement with the political dimension offers the potential to unlock debate from a polarised impasse. To make this argument, I first diagnose debate on irregular migration in terms of three archetypal positions and examine their implicit justice claims.
I then argue for a more ambitious debate that pushes contending justice claims to their logical extensions.
Debate of this kind requires a more coherent defence of justice claims, whether they are based in communitarian, cosmopolitan, anti-capitalist or hybrid values with respect to citizenship and political community. The article concludes with an illustration of how this approach can generate momentum for less circular, more sustainable and politically achievable policy responses.
The argument is made with reference to illustrative examples from Australia and Europe but holds for a variety of contexts where ‘the problem’ is framed in similar ways.
Abstract
What might be gained by learning to live with ‘the problem’ of irregular migration, rather than attempting to solve it?
This article engages two senses of ‘the problem’ at stake: first, the ongoing nature of displacement and migration and second, the contested justice claims that sit behind different policy perspectives.
The second sense of the problem (its political dimension) is rarely addressed explicitly in public debate. Yet direct engagement with the political dimension offers the potential to unlock debate from a polarised impasse. To make this argument, I first diagnose debate on irregular migration in terms of three archetypal positions and examine their implicit justice claims.
I then argue for a more ambitious debate that pushes contending justice claims to their logical extensions.
Debate of this kind requires a more coherent defence of justice claims, whether they are based in communitarian, cosmopolitan, anti-capitalist or hybrid values with respect to citizenship and political community. The article concludes with an illustration of how this approach can generate momentum for less circular, more sustainable and politically achievable policy responses.
The argument is made with reference to illustrative examples from Australia and Europe but holds for a variety of contexts where ‘the problem’ is framed in similar ways.
Monday, 6 March 2017
The psychic life of policy: Desire, anxiety and ‘citizenisation’ in Britain
an article by Anne-Marie Fortier (Lancaster University, England) published in Critical Social Policy Volume 37 Issue 1 (2017)
Abstract
This article empirically grounds the ‘psychic life of power’ (Butler, 1997) by demonstrating the psychic form that power takes as immigrants or agents of the state make their way through the British ‘citizenisation’ policy – i.e. the ‘integration’ policy that requires noncitizens to acquire ‘citizen-like’ skills and values in view of seeking citizenship or other statuses (e.g. settlement).
The framing argument is that an ambivalent relationship between desire and anxiety mediates the state-citizen relationship (following Honig, 2001). Taking this argument further, the article offers an in-depth analysis of how citizenisation policy’s frames of desire (the assumed desirability of citizenship and the desire for desirable citizens) also take the form of anxieties.
Drawing on a multi-sited study of citizenisation in Britain, the article explores some of the different forms anxiety takes: fetishisation, enervation, and uncertainty. The analysis reveals how the uneven distribution of anxiety between agents of the state and immigrants not only mediates the state–citizen relationship but also variously enacts the state itself.
Attending to the psychosocial dynamics of citizenisation reveals how hierarchies are (re)produced not only discursively and materially, but also through different ‘anxious states’.
Full Text (PDF)
Abstract
This article empirically grounds the ‘psychic life of power’ (Butler, 1997) by demonstrating the psychic form that power takes as immigrants or agents of the state make their way through the British ‘citizenisation’ policy – i.e. the ‘integration’ policy that requires noncitizens to acquire ‘citizen-like’ skills and values in view of seeking citizenship or other statuses (e.g. settlement).
The framing argument is that an ambivalent relationship between desire and anxiety mediates the state-citizen relationship (following Honig, 2001). Taking this argument further, the article offers an in-depth analysis of how citizenisation policy’s frames of desire (the assumed desirability of citizenship and the desire for desirable citizens) also take the form of anxieties.
Drawing on a multi-sited study of citizenisation in Britain, the article explores some of the different forms anxiety takes: fetishisation, enervation, and uncertainty. The analysis reveals how the uneven distribution of anxiety between agents of the state and immigrants not only mediates the state–citizen relationship but also variously enacts the state itself.
Attending to the psychosocial dynamics of citizenisation reveals how hierarchies are (re)produced not only discursively and materially, but also through different ‘anxious states’.
Full Text (PDF)
Tuesday, 8 November 2016
The border as a space of contention: the spatial strategies of protest against border controls in Europe
an article by Pierre Monforte (University of Leicester, UK)
published in Citizenship Studies
Volume 20 Issue 3-4 (2016)
Abstract
This article analyses the spatial dimension of social movements mobilising against border controls. Focusing on the case of the protests against European border controls, this paper shows that new spatial strategies of protest have emerged since the beginning of the 2000s.
Movements construct collective actions that aim to identify border controls and occupy specific border sites. These new strategies are related to a transformation of the material and symbolic dimensions of border controls in the last decades. As they have become more diffuse and organised through a selective power, social movements strategically locate their protest in order to document the existence and nature of border controls. In doing so, they disrupt the exclusionary logic of citizenship.
Abstract
This article analyses the spatial dimension of social movements mobilising against border controls. Focusing on the case of the protests against European border controls, this paper shows that new spatial strategies of protest have emerged since the beginning of the 2000s.
Movements construct collective actions that aim to identify border controls and occupy specific border sites. These new strategies are related to a transformation of the material and symbolic dimensions of border controls in the last decades. As they have become more diffuse and organised through a selective power, social movements strategically locate their protest in order to document the existence and nature of border controls. In doing so, they disrupt the exclusionary logic of citizenship.
Wednesday, 2 November 2016
Naturalisation and on-the-job training: evidence from first-generation immigrants in Germany
an article by Friederike von Haaren-Giebel and Malte Sandner (Leibniz Universität, Hannover) published in IZA Journal of Migration Volume 5 (2016)
Abstract
This paper empirically analyses the effect of naturalisation on on-the-job training (OJT) participation among first-generation immigrants in Germany. OJT is associated with improved labour market outcomes and provides therefore an indicator for labour market integration.
Naturalisation is assumed to act as a signal of the employee’s commitment to the host country and may thus increase employers’ likelihood of offering OJT. Testing the theoretical link with multivariate estimations (based on the German Socio-Economic Panel) shows a positive and significant correlation. To reduce selection bias on observables, propensity score matching is applied, yielding a significant average treatment effect.
Full text
Abstract
This paper empirically analyses the effect of naturalisation on on-the-job training (OJT) participation among first-generation immigrants in Germany. OJT is associated with improved labour market outcomes and provides therefore an indicator for labour market integration.
Naturalisation is assumed to act as a signal of the employee’s commitment to the host country and may thus increase employers’ likelihood of offering OJT. Testing the theoretical link with multivariate estimations (based on the German Socio-Economic Panel) shows a positive and significant correlation. To reduce selection bias on observables, propensity score matching is applied, yielding a significant average treatment effect.
Full text
Thursday, 22 August 2013
Active citizenship and late-life learning in the community
an article by Carmel Borg and Marvin Formosa (University of Malta) published in LLinE: Lifelong Learning in Europe 2/2013
In an age where the official, adult-education component of lifelong learning is dominated by the discourse of employability and performativity, reclaiming the radical agenda of critical, adult, active citizenship is not only urgent but indispensable for morally sound and democratically viable societies.
The crisis in capitalism is showing us, adult educators, that unless adult education is employed to interrogate, challenge and resist the accesses of a system that privileges profit at all cost, rampant individualism and privatisation of social goods, it will reproduce asymmetrical and predatory, social economic relations.
This paper problematises dominant notions of active citizenship in later life and provides a framework for an alternative view of active citizenship. It also illustrates how adult educators can facilitate learning processes where late-life learners, reflect on the impact of the neoliberal value system and on the consequences of its hegemonic practices on personal and community life, before engaging in transformative action.
Continue reading
In an age where the official, adult-education component of lifelong learning is dominated by the discourse of employability and performativity, reclaiming the radical agenda of critical, adult, active citizenship is not only urgent but indispensable for morally sound and democratically viable societies.
The crisis in capitalism is showing us, adult educators, that unless adult education is employed to interrogate, challenge and resist the accesses of a system that privileges profit at all cost, rampant individualism and privatisation of social goods, it will reproduce asymmetrical and predatory, social economic relations.
This paper problematises dominant notions of active citizenship in later life and provides a framework for an alternative view of active citizenship. It also illustrates how adult educators can facilitate learning processes where late-life learners, reflect on the impact of the neoliberal value system and on the consequences of its hegemonic practices on personal and community life, before engaging in transformative action.
Continue reading
Friday, 22 March 2013
Pass the new Life in the UK Test: The Complete Study Guide for 2013
by Celine Castelino and Chris Taylor
The “blurb” from NIACE says:
Further information and to order
ISBN: 9-781-86201-702-3
Price: £11.95
The “blurb” from NIACE says:
This complete and fully up-to-date study guide supports those preparing to take the new Life in the United Kingdom citizenship test required for naturalisation or settlement from 2013. It is designed for adults studying on their own, especially those who do not have English as a first language, or for teachers to use as a textbook for a course on citizenship.
This guide contains:
Having to pass a test to stay in the United Kingdom may feel daunting but this guide is packed with practical advice, information and activities to make the process easier, perhaps even enjoyable.
- official study material with additional information on important topics;
- illustrations, tasks and activities to help you learn and remember facts and figures;
- timelines to help you remember dates;
- advice and tips on study skills and how to prepare for your test;
- a glossary to aid understanding of difficult words and phrases;
- a section on the test – covering the types of questions and other information you need to feel more confident;
- self-assessment exercises and practice tests with answers to help you check your progress; and
- further sources of useful information on all the main topics in the new handbook.
Further information and to order
ISBN: 9-781-86201-702-3
Price: £11.95
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
Public duty and private prejudice: sexualities equalities and local government
an article by Diane Richardson and Surya Monro (Newcastle University, UK) published in The Sociological Review Volume 61 Issue 1 (February 2013)
Abstract
Rather than critiquing social institutions and practices that have historically excluded lesbians and gay men, as did earlier social movements in the 1960s and 1970s, since the 1990s the politics of sexuality has increasingly been about demanding equal rights of citizenship.
These citizenship demands have, at least to a degree, been answered via a raft of recent legislation in the UK including the Adoption and Children Act 2002, Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003, Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the Civil Partnership Act 2004, and by associated changes in policy making and practice that emphasise ‘Equality and Diversity’.
In this article we consider how the implementation of sexualities equalities policies is related to processes of privatisation and individualisation. This is illustrated by using sexualities equalities work in local government as a case study to indicate how processes of change and resistance are aided by these processes.
The article draws on findings from a study of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equalities initiatives in local government in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which examined the views of those who now have a public duty to implement recent legislative and policy shifts and are obliged to develop equalities initiatives concerning ‘sexual orientation' and ‘gender reassignment’.
Full text (PDF 22pp)
Abstract
Rather than critiquing social institutions and practices that have historically excluded lesbians and gay men, as did earlier social movements in the 1960s and 1970s, since the 1990s the politics of sexuality has increasingly been about demanding equal rights of citizenship.
These citizenship demands have, at least to a degree, been answered via a raft of recent legislation in the UK including the Adoption and Children Act 2002, Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003, Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the Civil Partnership Act 2004, and by associated changes in policy making and practice that emphasise ‘Equality and Diversity’.
In this article we consider how the implementation of sexualities equalities policies is related to processes of privatisation and individualisation. This is illustrated by using sexualities equalities work in local government as a case study to indicate how processes of change and resistance are aided by these processes.
The article draws on findings from a study of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equalities initiatives in local government in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which examined the views of those who now have a public duty to implement recent legislative and policy shifts and are obliged to develop equalities initiatives concerning ‘sexual orientation' and ‘gender reassignment’.
Full text (PDF 22pp)
Tuesday, 4 December 2012
Not the community, but a community: transforming youth into citizens through volunteer work
an article by Sandi Kawecka Nenga (Southwestern University, Georgetown, USA) published in Journal of Youth Studies
Volume 15 Issue 8 (December 2012)
Abstract
Public discourse suggests that volunteer work will transform youth into productive citizens by connecting youth to their communities.
However, the meaning and practice of ‘community’ is rarely defined or investigated.
Using interview and observation data from a study of 47 volunteers aged 15–23, I argue that there are three different types of community youth commonly join via volunteer work.
Abstract
Public discourse suggests that volunteer work will transform youth into productive citizens by connecting youth to their communities.
However, the meaning and practice of ‘community’ is rarely defined or investigated.
Using interview and observation data from a study of 47 volunteers aged 15–23, I argue that there are three different types of community youth commonly join via volunteer work.
- One kind of community was composed of a homogenous group of students.
- A second type of community was formed from a diverse group of volunteers and far-flung networks of marginalised groups.
- A third community developed when youth became attached to a city-wide web of nonprofit agencies but formed few ties to other volunteers and clients.
Monday, 2 April 2012
Service learning and active citizenship education in England
An article by Lee Jerome (London Metropolitan University) published in Education, Citizenship and Social Justice Volume 7 Number 1(March 2012)
Abstract
This article compares the English tradition of active citizenship education with the US tradition of service learning. It starts by outlining service learning and noting some of the defining characteristics as well as some of the tensions. It then discusses the model of active citizenship that has been promoted in England’s secondary school curriculum, considering how this has been defined and how it has been implemented.
The two traditions are then compared to highlight the substantial areas of overlap between the two models, sharpen some of the distinctions and consider why there have been limited connections between them in practice.
This discussion raises several issues that link to foundational questions about the nature, scope and purpose of citizenship education which are discussed in relation to the changed political context in England after the establishment of the coalition government.
Abstract
This article compares the English tradition of active citizenship education with the US tradition of service learning. It starts by outlining service learning and noting some of the defining characteristics as well as some of the tensions. It then discusses the model of active citizenship that has been promoted in England’s secondary school curriculum, considering how this has been defined and how it has been implemented.
The two traditions are then compared to highlight the substantial areas of overlap between the two models, sharpen some of the distinctions and consider why there have been limited connections between them in practice.
This discussion raises several issues that link to foundational questions about the nature, scope and purpose of citizenship education which are discussed in relation to the changed political context in England after the establishment of the coalition government.
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