Abstract
This book attempts to bridge the gap between the study of citizenship education and the study of immigration and naturalization by examining citizenship policy initiatives. Case studies from different countries are examined, providing analysis of a wide range of national constructions of citizenship. The introduction is comprehensive and gives a good summary of the key issues in current policy on education and citizenship, such as a restrictive turn, renationalization and cross-national convergence. However, while the first two key points are discussed in depth, the cross-national convergence argument remains rather weak.
A key theme of the book examines whether naturalization policies, citizenship education policies, and integration policies reflect a restrictive turn, that is, a tendency of states towards nationalization and de-ethnicization? In this context, the authors discuss whether citizenship tests, for example, are used as instruments to promote naturalization and integration, or as instruments for immigration control. Dina Kiwan, in Chapter 2, examines the different policy rationales and conceptions of citizenship across the four nations in the United Kingdom. She illustrates the continuity between the introduction of citizenship education policies, which were initially introduced to promote active citizenship values among young people, and the naturalization policies, which subsequently came to be constructed in terms of addressing the challenges of living in an ethnically and religiously diverse society and a multi-nation state. Thus, she places her analysis of these policy developments in the context of increased devolution, an emphasis on community cohesion, and security threats since 9/11.
Cécile Laborde, in Chapter 3, focuses on the debates surrounding the French laws banning the wearing of hijab in schools (2004) and the wearing of full-face veils (niqab) in public places (2010). She shows how the ban is justified by the state on the grounds that hijab and niqab infringe the autonomy of the individuals wearing them. Laborde questions these seemingly benevolent paternalistic motives, warning that these laws stigmatize Muslims and do little to promote women’s rights to education. This chapter sheds light on a highly contentious issue and contributes to the debates on ethno-religious diversity and social cohesion.
Nasar Meer and Tariq Modood, in Chapter 4, attempt to provide a theoretical framework under which the ideas of citizenship and nationhood in five European countries, namely the UK, Belgium, Denmark, France, and Germany, can be conceptualized. They evaluate these governments’ policies of naturalization processes, anti-discrimination measures, strategies for political participation, and civic integrationist and educational measures to show the extent and ways in which minority identities are accommodated. This chapter provides a good comparative overview about recent developments relating to cultural diversity in these countries, examining in detail the alleged retreat from multiculturalism. Compared to other contributions, this chapter focuses on naturalization policies and particularly the citizenship tests, rather than civic education, and discusses the extent to which these policies reflect trends of renationalization.
Elke Winter, in Chapter 5, also addresses the renationalization argument of the book. She evaluates the most recent changes in naturalization policies in Canada. Similar to the UK case analysed by Kiwan, Winter shows how Canada’s citizenship legislation is accompanied by changes in citizenship education, specifically with respect to the naturalization process, including the citizenship study guide and test.
The last two empirical chapters provide a rather unusual case, giving examples of nation-building in the Ukraine, and among stateless Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Antonina Tereshchenko’s chapter sheds some light on the complexity of national identities and loyalties and demonstrates how citizenship education at school plays a crucial role in building an official narrative of Ukrainian national identity.
Kathleen Fincham focuses on the role non-state actors and institutions play in creating and maintaining a national narrative, such as families, mosques, the internet, and the social media. The analysis is based on empirical work carried out among young Palestinian refugees living in the Lebanon, who are educated in UNRWA schools through the Lebanese curriculum. This very interesting chapter shows the strength of a refugee community maintaining and reinventing its national identity in the diaspora.
Overall, the case studies in this book present very diverse and rich empirical data and analyses. Each chapter is strong, giving a good historical overview of citizenship policies in the respective countries, while at the same time they also focus on developments over the last few decades. This allows the reader to identify global trends, as well as regional and national differences with respect to how national identity and diversity is reconstructed and redefined. The book is an important and useful addition to the literature on citizenship education, national identity, and diversity.