Citizenship Studies
Volume 22, Issue 3, 2018, Pages 225-242

Making political citizens? Migrants’ narratives of naturalization in the United Kingdom* (Article) (Open Access)

Bassel L.* , Monforte P. , Khan K.
  • a School of Media, Communication and Sociology, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
  • b School of Media, Communication and Sociology, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
  • c Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain, School of Education, Community & Society, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

Abstract

Citizenship tests are arguably intended as moments of hailing, or interpellation, through which norms are internalized and citizen-subjects produced. We analyse the multiple political subjects revealed through migrants’ narratives of the citizenship test process, drawing on 158 interviews with migrants in Leicester and London who are at different stages in the UK citizenship test process. In dialogue with three counter-figures in the critical naturalization literature–the ‘neoliberal citizen’; the ‘anxious citizen’; and the ‘heroic citizen’–we propose the figure of the ‘citizen-negotiator’, a socially situated actor who attempts to assert control over their life as they navigate the test process and state power. Through the focus on negotiation, we see migrants navigating a process of differentiation founded on pre-existing inequalities rather than a journey toward transformation. © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Author Keywords

neoliberal citizenship citizenship tests Naturalization United Kingdom

Index Keywords

United Kingdom England politics immigrant power relations naturalization citizenship London [England] Leicester [England]
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85045984748&doi=10.1080%2f13621025.2018.1449808&partnerID=40&md5=a39587edd265afdc9d8fa50edf45eda4
DOI: 10.1080/13621025.2018.1449808
ISSN: 13621025
Cited by: 3
Original Language: English