9.

MAKING CITIZENS: THEORIES AND PRACTICES OF CONSTRUCTING CITIZENSHIP IDENTITIES YLVA STUBBERGAARD
Introduction
The point of departure in this chapter is that citizenship is constructed and re-constructed through both formal regulations and societal practice. Hence citizenship is understood both as formal relations between the state and the individual, manifested in constitutional rights and duties, but also as a social citizenship that depends on prevailing power relations. Being included as a citizen thus concerns, on the one hand, having equal constitutional rights and duties as others in society, and, on the other, having these rights in practice!in other words!having an experienced substantive citizenship. Research on citizenship has been concerned with different constraints on full inclusion in a society, especially inequalities and discrimination based on class, gender and race. Citizenship clearly has a special meaning for immigrants. In every society, there are legal rights and duties that are exclusive to members with legal citizenship. There are also informal demands and expectations concerning what kinds of knowledge citizens should have to be included in a community. Dominant societal demands and expectations are explicitly expressed in integration policies. In Sweden, implementation of integration policy largely takes place in local programmes and projects specifically directed at people who have not found a foothold on the labour market. Local civil servants and project managers are thus of great importance for how project participants experience becoming a citizen in Swedish society. This chapter aims to explore different aspects of citizenship theories that contribute to an analysis of the construction of citizens and the experience of citizenship. The ambition is also to illustrate how these theories can

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help us understand the opportunities and obstacles encountered by unemployed immigrants who wish to become citizens in practice.1 Two questions will guide the chapter: How can the construction of citizenship identity be understood theoretically? How do participants in integration programmes experience their becoming citizens? The first question refers to theoretical discussions of constructing citizenship identities. The idea of constructing citizenship opens up for problematizing ambitions to govern the meaning of citizenship and the processes of inclusion. Inspired by Lister (1997, 2007; cf. Saward 2006), citizenship is dealt with here as a contradictory concept: It signifies a disciplinary dimension when it refers to ideas about how members of a society should behave, but it also refers to ideas of emancipation, that is the rights and opportunities that come with the status of being a citizen. As will be elaborated later on in the chapter, the dimension of emancipation versus disciplining goes beyond the categories of rights and duties that are typically connected to the concept of citizenship, as the dimension also comprises ideas about encouraging citizens and fostering civic virtue. Inclusion versus exclusion is another key dimension that is often used in citizenship theories. As established in the introduction, this dimension refers to inclusion both in legal rights and duties and in actual opportunities and duties. The second question is empirical. It will be discussed through analyses of interviews with long-term unemployed immigrant women who are participating in integration programmes. The participants experiences of citizenship are related to status categories elaborated on the basis of citizenship theories. The two dimensions of emancipation-disciplining and inclusion-exclusion will be used both in reviewing citizenship theories and in interpreting the interviews. The interviewees are long-term unemployed women who have immigrated to Sweden and who are participating in publicly financed activities with the pronounced ambition to integrate and include immigrants in
The study was made possible by a grant from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation) and the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions Research Council.
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Swedish society, particularly the labour market. Their sense of inclusion and their experience of becoming citizens are in focus in the analysis.

The structure of the chapter

The chapter will combine two perspectives on constructing citizenship identities, firstly a top-down perspective in which the governing of citizenship is discussed through citizenship theories. In the second part, the perspective is bottom-up: How do immigrants experience public attempts at constructing citizenship? Mouffes (1992, 1993, 2005) dynamic theory of citizenship as political identity constitutes the main perspective!citizenship is considered to be continuously changing and dependent on political strategies, institutionalized rules for transformation and citizens actions. Combined with Cruikshanks (1999) theory of government policies aimed at making citizens, it gives an overall theoretical perspective on constructing citizens. Ingram, Schneider and deLeon (2007) provide theories of how welfare policies contribute to the construction of target groups, narrowing the perspective down to a useful analytical level at which policies meet clients through civil servants. With these perspectives in mind, the two dimensions inclusion-exclusion and emancipating-disciplining are used first to review aspects of citizenship theories and then to analyse experienced citizenship by immigrant women who participate in integration programmes.

Constructing citizen identities through social reforms

A number of publicly financed projects have set out to integrate new citizens by using selective measures to encourage inclusion in the society and to encourage participants influence over their everyday situation. In one study, Cruikshank examines the underlying logic of social projects designed to empower the participants, and concludes: The will to empower others and oneself is neither a bad nor a good thing, it is political: the will to empower contains the twin possibilities of domination and freedom (Cruikshank 1999, 2). Here we are reminded that empowerment is a question of political action. The steps taken to empower or strengthen citizens comprise a ... paradox, wherein the emancipation of the dominated can only be achieved by intervention of an external agent, who must logically become another possible source of domination (Stewart 2001, 43).

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The wish to strengthen peoples power and scope to act hence actualizes two power processes: the first working discursively and practically towards a change in dominant relationships; the second deciding who should be regarded as powerless and who is in need of empowerment. Part of these processes is the power to set the political agenda by raising the question of which power relationships are desirable (Cruikshank 1999; Stewart 2001; Kabeer 2001). Cruikshank considers social reforms designed to combat poverty in the US, starting by asking which problems the measures are intended to solve. She demonstrates that the measures are intended to transform people who are described as passive, powerless individuals into active, participating citizens, and that this is essentially a matter of making citizens.

Citizenship as political identity: A dynamic approach to constructing citizenship

In contrast to Cruikshanks discourse analysis of how social reforms function in making citizens, Mouffes theory of citizenship is more philosophical and permits a dynamic and interactive perspective on becoming a citizen. Citizenship is defined by Mouffe (1992, 2005) as a political identity, based on the recognition of everyones right to freedom and equality, and the right to attempt to politically change ones conditions. Changes in the meaning of citizenship, according to Mouffe, occur as the subject positions lead to different interpretations of freedom and equality. Collective identities are constructed from shared interpretations by those who challenge!and attempt to change!dominant ideas. Dominant interpretations establish a specific order that construes subordinate positions. Along with the resultant collective identities, there is an exclusion of those who are not allowed to join the collective, but such collectives are never fixed!we are constructed relative to them, defining what we are not. Mouffe (2005, 9) defines the political as the dimension of antagonism, and politics as the set of practices and institutions through which an order is created, organizing human co-existence in the context of conflictuality provided by the political. Mouffe sees political communities as democratic institutions that serve to legitimize everyones right to assert their own particular interpretations and to challenge the prevailing order. The term antagonism is used to describe the hostile relationships that can emerge between us and them whenever democratic institutions fail to transform discordant relationships into agonism. This means that the

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opponents are treated with respect and as adversaries instead of enemies (Mouffe 2005, 20). With citizenship thus comes the duty not to let opposition tip over into the antagonism that risk razing the political communitys institutions!the grammar of conduct (Mouffe 1993, 2005). In Mouffes theory of pluralistic democracy, particular emphasis is placed on the citizens obligation to observe the democratic process, matched by the political right to work for a change in power relationships. Democratic institutions and processes are supposed to guarantee that all are accepted and respected when they desire to change their situation. With a perspective on the political as an incessant, conflict-ridden power struggle between collectives that are moulded by their social relationships, it follows that politics is also exclusive. Membership in the collective and the construal of we in relation to others is a logical necessity in Mouffes perspective. It is thus not the construction of we and them that is morally awkward; the problems arise when categories of we and them are put to essential (as preceding the process of identification) and stereotypical use, with discrimination as a result (Petersson 2006). The collective is not fixed, and individual citizens multiple identities can overlap or coincide, conflict or harmonize. When Mouffe postulates the continuous reinterpretation of the meanings of central values such as equality and freedom, her emphasis is on how subordinates seek to shore up their position and their citizenship. Politicaladministrative entities regulate the processes of change. In political discussions, visions and reforms are formulated of what citizenship ought to mean and for whom, and specific strategies are formulated to these ends. Thus using Mouffes perspective, we can analyse constructing citizens as a political and an administrative process in which strategies are formed combined with an effort to implement ideas. The strategies then interact with people in a variety of subject positions, who react and relate to what is expected of them as citizens. The reactions that this encounter may give rise to!for example loyalty, dissent, or indifference!then play a part in determining the meaning of citizenship for people in the process of becoming citizens.

Changing meanings of citizenship: Constructing the right kind of citizen

Citizenship theories include ideas about how citizens ought to behave in relation to the collective. Both the republican and communitarian approaches take into account a moral dimension!the individuals civic

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virtue. According to the communitarian school of thought, for which the meaning of citizenship is created in a cultural collective, participation in public affairs, along with demonstrable tolerance and the mutual respect of fellow inhabitants, is seen as integral to moral citizenship. Similar ideas are found in the republican tradition, but here cultural community per se is not thought to promote the common good. Instead the collective is expected to override the interests of particular and private interests. For instance, when citizens join collective voluntary organizations, whether political or social, this is seen by both the communitarian and republican traditions as encouraging civic virtue (Seligman 1995; Walzer 1995; Stubbergaard 2000). Ideas about civic virtue imply that for any society, certain skills and qualities of citizens are particularly desirable (cf. Saward 2006; Cruikshank 1999). Citizenship legislation lays down the formal criteria for citizenship. The Swedish Citizenship Act (2001:82) states, for example, that acquisition of Swedish citizenship after application (naturalization) requires that the applicant: 1. has provided proof of his or her identity, 2. has reached the age of eighteen, 3. holds a permanent Swedish residence permit, 4. has been domiciled in Sweden for a period of time between two and five years depending on her or his national background, and 5. has led and can be expected to lead a respectable life. (SFS 2001:82; SFS 2005:722.) The fifth condition differs from the others because it requires a different kind of assessment. It brings to mind other kinds of stipulations, such as general knowledge tests and language proficiency tests that have been introduced to an increasing extent around Europe (Swedish Integration Board 2006; Lister et al. 2007, chapter 3; cf. Borevi, this volume). The formal construction of citizens can be regulated constitutionally, as in this example, but to have a real influence on practice, legal norms have to be interpreted and accepted by civil servants and others who are involved in socializing citizens in different policy areas. Some areas of policy express more clearly than others just what the right kind of citizen might be; this is highly applicable to policies that explicitly set out to

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socialize inhabitants as citizens. Those that immediately spring to mind include: Policies on children who are in the process of becoming independent adult citizens (educational policy); policies on people whose behaviour society wishes to change (criminal policies); policies on people who live in circumstances that society is assumed to have a responsibility to change (social policy); and policies on how new citizens should be integrated into society (integration policy). We now turn to the Swedish integration policy to consider how integration is promoted. In terms of making citizens!the right kinds of citizens!integration policy is extremely interesting. Integration policy, after all, is central to understanding how any state handles the relationship between the political affiliations and cultural affiliations inherent in citizenship. Since 1997, the line taken by Swedens formal integration policy is that society should be integrated, and that all citizens share in the responsibility for this integration. Formally there are equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities for all, regardless of ethnic or cultural background, in a society that is ethnically and culturally diverse. In principle, measures should thus not be directed specifically at immigrants (Proposition 1997/98:16). On the other hand, local authorities, funded by central government, are responsible for offering newly arrived immigrants (and particularly refugees) an introductory programme with language teaching and basic information about Swedish society (Regeringens skrivelse 2001/02:129).2 Political measures to create integrated citizens can be categorized by whether they intend to change individual circumstances in order to promote integration, for example through education, or whether they intend to change institutions and structures that have been found to restrict the individuals opportunities to attain genuine citizenship. In essence, Swedens integration policy is meant to be put into effect across the entire public sector!without special measures for immigrants!but as mentioned, it is also pursued in well-defined projects. Participants in two such projects were interviewed for this study.

2 In this chapter, the discussion is limited to actual practice related to citizenship theory. There is an extensive body of literature on Swedish integration policy from different perspectives, conducted in a variety of disciplines, and focusing on different aspects of the policies (see for instance SOU 2006:37; SOU 2006:79; Sandell and Mulinari 2006).

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Inclusion and exclusion

As discussed above, inclusion in a constitutional sense is one thing; true inclusion in society is another. In most citizenship theories, a distinction is made between the legal bonds between the members of society and the state (vertical relationships), on the one hand, and relationships between members of society (horizontal relationships), on the other. Horizontal relationships are also linked to the community with which the members of a society identify (Fleming 1997; Lister et al. 2007). A key issue in current debates dealing with the dimension of inclusionexclusion is the connection between citizenship and the state as the sole political entity. Is it possible to extend citizenship, both formal and informal alike, to encompass other political entities? The debate over cosmopolitan citizenship, or the transnational citizenship of which EU citizenship is one example, is central to discussions of citizenship beyond national borders (Linklater 1998; Habermas 1995; Castles and Davidson 2000; Delanty 2000; Soysal 2000). When a state is treated as a national and symbolic community with a population that possesses a sense of belonging and a shared identity, the corollary is a debate on ethnic inclusion-exclusion (see, e.g., Hay 1996; Anderson 1983; Yuval-Davies 1997; Brettell 2006). The linkage of political and cultural identity has increasingly been questioned. History presents many examples of the invalidity of the nation-state concept, and changes such as migration and globalization have led increasing numbers of researchers to stress the need to decouple these elements of citizenship from one another. As a transnational and supranational political entity, the EU has furthered new research on its citizens political and cultural affiliations. Cultural-ethnic pluralism in the shape of multiculturalism, with cultural rights and the recognition of diversity within political entities, had its political zenith in several states after the 1960s, but has been on the wane since the 1990s and received far less support (Castles and Davidson 2000, 125).3 The question of whether shared cultural affiliation is a necessary precondition for citizens to safeguard their shared political freedoms and rights is politically and academically controversial (McKinnon and HampsherA report from the Swedish Integration Board gives an account of a comparative study on trends in integration policy. A tendency to abandon diversity in favour of assimilation is noted in several countries (Swedish Integration Board 2006; cf. also Borevi in this volume).
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Monk 2000). Regardless of whether the debate is about political or cultural affiliations, the notion of multiple identifications has had considerable impact. To some extent this has also seen legislative results in the acceptance of dual citizenship in a number of countries (in Swedens case from 2001). Be that as it may, the vertical relationship embodied by constitutional citizenship is still bound up with the state as a political entity, with farreaching consequences for anyone set on crossing political borders. Sovereign states, singly or in collaboration, effectively regulate rights and obligations, albeit within the parameters of (morally) binding international agreements (Lister 2007). Isin and Turner (2007) argue that because citizenship comprises both rights and obligations, it requires the existence of an authoritative decision-making body within a defined territory, one that can also enforce actual obligations!obligations in the shape of a transfer of resources from members of a society to society as a whole.

Connecting rights and obligations to the dimensions of inclusion-exclusion and emancipating-disciplining

Rights and obligations are regulated by citizenship, and both elements are often discussed in citizenship theories. Civil and social rights, two of the three that Marshall ([1950] 2009) saw as determinant for citizenship, formally apply even to those Swedish inhabitants who do not hold constitutional citizenship. Complete political rights, the third category of rights according to Marshall, are generally limited to those who hold constitutional citizenship. Political rights are central to democracies and permit formal influence on the configuration of society, either by enabling individuals to become representatives or through the election of representatives. For other forms of political participation there is generally no requirement for legal citizenship.4 Views on political participation distinguish the liberal and the republican schools of citizenship. In the liberal tradition, political participation is seen as a right and the emphasis is on institutional opportunities to influence decisions and shape policy. Within the republican tradition, on the other hand, political participation is seen as a civic duty and as essential to
In Sweden there is no requirement of legal citizenship for voting at the local level for those residing in the municipality who have been registered in Sweden for at least three years. EU citizens only have to meet the requirement of residing in the municipality.
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upholding democratic freedom and rights (McKinnon and HampsherMonk 2000; Voet 1998). In practice, rights and obligations can have different consequences depending on both formal and informal power relationships in different spheres of society. There is good reason, then, as Lister et al. (2007, 11) have pointed out, to study the actual emancipatory and disciplinary consequences of the rules. Rights can serve disciplinary ends, while obligations can liberate. Exactly which rights and obligations are entailed by citizenship, and what their meaning may be, is subject to constant renegotiation. Marshalls theory that genuine citizenship embraces civil, political and social rights has had a considerable influence on discussions about citizenship. Feminist research, in its critical discussion of Marshalls categories, has developed the notion further (Lister et al. 2007), while other researchers have broadened the term citizenship to include cultural rights (Castles and Davidson 2000). The importance of cultural community to citizenship theories is also discussed in terms of particularism and universalism, where universal rights possessed by individuals are primarily a concern of the liberal school of thought. Researchers with a neo-republican approach, on the other hand, have tended to formulate theories that combine elements from the communitarian and liberal traditions. Whereas constitutionally regulated relationships between individuals and political institutions tend to the general, citing universal freedoms and rights, local political institutions can be considerably more cultural and particularistic in design (Habermas 1995; Linklater 1998; Delanty 2000). Mouffe (1993, 2005) is critical of both the liberal and the communitarian schools, and argues that a rethinking of citizenship is long overdue. Among other things, she recommends a combination of elements from the liberal and communitarian schools that would emphasize the intrinsic values of freedom and equality. These values, according to Mouffe, are the focus of every policy on citizenship, such that those who feel they have a subordinate position in society fight for increased freedom and equality. The main criticism of the established citizenship models is directed first at liberal notions of an atomistic individual and second at the communitarian idea of there being one community that offers the chance to reach an agreement upon the common good.

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Constructing citizens through target groups

Thus far I have presented an overall theoretical perspective on processes of constructing citizenship identities, based on Mouffe and Cruikshank. On a less principled level, theories of constructing citizens developed by Ingram, Schneider and deLeon (2007) analyse the effects of public welfare policies on democratic institutions and citizenship. They see target groups as being constructed by politicians when the programmes are adopted and by civil servants when decisions on implementation are taken. They postulate that two dimensions are taken into consideration in this construction. First, attention is paid to the target groups political resources (for instance education, social status, and experience in asserting their rights), and second, the decision-makers morally assess whether the group deserves social welfare or other benefits. On the basis of these two dimensions, the authors create four categories. The first is the advantaged group who have the political resources and are regarded as deserving the advantages that fall to them; the measures directed at them are designed both to be universal and to be rights, and as such, responsibility can be expected in return. The next category is termed contender group, the members of which are distinguished by their strong political resources but are thought of as morally suspect (the examples given are big business and polluting industries). The third group, the dependents, have scant political resources but are thought to deserve the support they receive; they are dependent on civil servants who assess their need for certain selective measures, measures that Ingram et al. argue are conspicuous for their high rhetoric and low costs (the examples given are mothers, the poor, children and the homeless). Members of the fourth and final group, the deviant, not only lack political resources and power, but are also seen as a drain on society; far from being treated with respect, the group is closely regulated, and it is next to impossible to gain political support for any measure other than punishment (the examples given are drug dealers, criminals, illegal immigrants; Ingram, Schneider and deLeon 2007, 103; cf. also Fraser and Gordon 2006). We can add to the discussions of categorization made by Ingram, Schneider and deLeon that categories are not fixed. If we remember Mouffes theory of how collective mobilization and identification are made by the subordinated, we may well expect that individuals categorized as dependent can be mobilized and struggle either to assert their rights or to change their social status. However, there is also a risk that, because of problematic definitions in public programmes, they will be treated as deviants and looked on as no longer deserving economic sup-

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port. The ongoing debate, and not least the political measures directed at people who are discursively defined as sponging off the system, can, among other things, change the publics moral views of people who are in need of economic support. Several studies have shown how people who are socially excluded and not treated with respect, or even viewed with outright suspicion, react by mistrusting institutions (Dahlstedt 2009; Fraser and Gordon 2006). With exclusion comes the risk that one will not identify oneself as a citizen, and thus feel that one has no say in the drawing up of rights or obligations, and no way of influencing ones situation through existing political institutions. On paper one is included as a citizen, but in practice one is excluded.

Concluding remarks on the theoretical frame and introduction to analyses of experienced citizenship
The theories and perspectives that have been introduced in the first part of the chapter are all important in understanding and interpreting narratives on experienced citizenship. The theoretical frame combines different elements from citizenship theories that, taken together, should be useful in a dynamic understanding of constructing citizenship. The frame is meant to capture some of the complexity involved when attempts to govern the construction of citizenship interact with citizens practice and the unemployed immigrants experience. The starting point in the theoretical frame consisted of the epistemological statement that citizenship is constructed and hence possible to reconstruct. Cruikshank (1999), together with Mouffe (1993, 2005), has contributed to theories of how we can understand the making of citizenship and how the meaning of citizenship is continuously politically contested and changed. In the next part of the chapter, these theories help us understand the power relations that are brought to the fore when authorities wish to emancipate and include citizens in Swedish society. Integration policies are preceded by ideas of how one becomes integrated, and someone decides when and why immigrants are in need of integration activities. Mouffes idea of transforming citizenship and power relations through temporally constructed collective identity and mobilization gives rise to questions concerning the common understanding of situations and mobilization among the interviewed persons. Inspired by citizenship theories, two dimensions were highlighted: inclusion-exclusion and emancipating-disciplining. The substance of the two categories was mainly discussed as different rights and duties. The

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difference between being legally included with access to formal rights and being included in practice was also emphasized. The dimension of emancipating-disciplining underlines the interviewees perception of public authorities efforts. For instance, is their opportunity to study Swedish perceived as emancipating or as disciplining? This dimension is also used to make more concrete the idea of constructing target groups. The four categories created by Ingram, Schneider and deLeon (2007) will be used in the interpretation of how the interviewees describe themselves in terms of a) political resources and social status, and b) the moral aspect of deserving benefits and social welfare.

Becoming citizens
How, then, do participants in integration projects experience their citizenship? I have analysed interviews conducted with women who participated in two separate Swedish integration projects5 applying the theoretical framework described above. The interviews are seen as a source of information on experienced citizenship. Publicly financed projects aimed at integrating and including immigrants in Swedish society were chosen because they are involved in constructing citizens as understood in the dynamic sense outlined in the theoretical framework. Due to their interpretation of the regulatory framework and their decisions on the running of actual operations, the project managers and public authorities involved play a role in shaping the citizenship that the interviewed women describe. It may be an indirect or direct effect. Naturally, the interviewees themselves also play a role in the construction and reconstruction of citizenship through their interaction, which is informed by previous personal experience, with the notions and expectations they encounter. The project participants political, social, cultural and economic resources also present varying possibilities to assert and exercise their rights and obligations. This is not an evaluation of how well the two projects have implemented their goals. The focus is on the women that have taken part in the project activities. Specific activities in the projects are considered only when the interviewees emphasize them as promoting or preventing their inclusion as citizens. Furthermore, because our interest is in the process of becoming a citizen, it is natural to consider a greater range of experiences and
5 Mahin Kiwi conducted the majority of the interviews with the project participants. Where necessary an interpreter was used.

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relationships than were actualized in the projects, including institutions and structures over and above the course of the projects.

The integration projects

The projects in which the interviewees participate differ somewhat from each other. The first project is underway in a medium-sized town, and has been made permanent. Some 20 people participate at any one time. The goal is to smooth participants entry onto the labour market, enhance their selfesteem, and improve their knowledge of the Swedish language and computing (according to the annual report). The project is open to women with rehabilitation needs: the unemployed who are interested in the projects activities; young people with particular needs who are taking an individual programme at upper secondary school. The project is run under the aegis of employment and integration at the local social services. The participants are recruited by social workers, the social insurance office, or the job centre. The social insurance office and job centre pay for places from six months to two years. A parallel project has been developed for a smaller number of participants who are experiencing greater difficulties in finding work and who have been part of the main project for several years. Eight women between 26 and 52 years of age were interviewed. They arrived in Sweden between five and twenty years ago, and six of them hold legal Swedish citizenship. The second project is based in one of Swedens larger cities. It was developed in the voluntary sector and is partly funded by the EU; it collaborates with its co-financiers, local government services, who are responsible for recruiting its participants. The projects goals are to promote entry onto the labour market and opportunities for self-support. Further, its aims are to promote empowerment and raise the level of awareness of the participants, and to increase their quality of life, access to nature and culture, and sense of well-being (Project description). It is open to long-term unemployed women of immigrant background. A large number of women have participated in the project. Together with the specific vocational training on offer, there is teaching in both Swedish and civics (Project description; interviews with project managers). Eight women between 32 and 52 years of age were interviewed. They arrived in Sweden between eight and fifteen years ago, and all hold legal Swedish citizenship.

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Inclusion-exclusion: Social and cultural citizenship

Only 2 of the 16 interviewed women did not hold Swedish passports, and the significance of a Swedish passport is mentioned by several of the interviewees: Because I had waited so long for a residence permit, I felt whole when I got my passport (2:7).6 The experienced difference between legal citizenship and citizenship in practice is clearly expressed: My husband says that its the Swedish passport thats important, it shows that were Swedish, and I laugh at him. A passport cant change someones life or identity. [] I became a Swedish citizen long ago, but I couldnt become Swedish. I cant speak Swedish (1:4). Another woman describes the importance of changing legal citizenship; having been badly treated by the authorities, she decided to protest by not applying for Swedish citizenship. Later she changed her mind, and has now applied for naturalization. Families divided between different countries are painfully aware of the significance of constitutional boundaries, even though the countries are included in the same political entity, the EU. One project participant told us: My oldest son is in Denmark and is waiting for a residence permit. my second son recently got a residence permit here in Sweden. It was my daughter and one of my sons who got permits at the same time as me. [] I wish we could all have lived together, but their age meant they didnt get residence permits. The Migration Board said that they were over 18 and didnt count as children (2:6). Above all, the interviews confirm other studies concluding that there is strong segregation in Sweden both culturally and socially between immigrants and ethnic Swedes. Some responses may illustrate how lived cultural separation is experienced in everyday activities. The project participants describe themselves, their friends, neighbours, and other project participants in terms of their native country or nationality. Most of the city-dwellers defend the area in which they live, despite it being located in one of Swedens most segregated cities and despite the fact that very few ethnic Swedes live in this particular area; they have friends there, and think of the sheer number of different cultures as a positive advantage, with the added advantage of there being others in the area
6 The interviewees were promised anonymity. I have given each of the quotations a label: number 1 or 2 depending on which project the interviewee participates in and a letter that is connected to each interviewee. This facilitates discerning references to the same person as well as when an opinion is especially emphasized among participants in one of the projects.

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who speak their native tongue. Yet on other occasions they point to the problem of their children not spending enough time with Swedishspeaking children. Many defend their neighbourhood, saying that although so many bad things have been said about it, problems can be found everywhere, while where they live there is a degree of social control that gives them a sense of security, especially when it comes to their children. Quite simply, they can count on the fact that they will hear if their children get into trouble. Social control has its downside, of course. A couple of women explain that it is impossible to confide in anyone, as any news travels fast. In general, the interviewees know many of the people living in their area. Most of the project participants have joined one or more cultural associations for social reasons, and join in organizing parties for high days and holidays. Some have joined a womens association made up of immigrants from different countries. Others have deliberately avoided associations whose members come exclusively from the same country as themselves. Religious associations are of great importance for some of the women. Interviewees social networks consist primarily of women who have immigrated to Sweden from other countries; it is rare for people who grew up in Sweden to be members. Several speak in terms of nationality when asked if they are happy with their neighbourhood: There are Swedes living in our block of flats (2:6). There is a certain status associated with having Swedes in the same building, the assumption being that they are better able to choose where they live. A couple of families have moved in from other towns in Sweden after hearing that others from their country of origin live there. There is some unhappiness that so many participants in the projects speak Arabic and that many come from the same few countries. Interviewees express a wish for more women who grew up in Sweden to be included. Besides providing an opportunity to get to know more ethnic Swedes, it would also provide more opportunities to speak Swedish. Otherwise, broadly speaking, it is seen as positive that the projects result in contact with women from other countries; one woman says it has broadened her views, because she used to be prejudiced against Iranians and Iraqis. Several interviewees have chosen to send their children to private schools where they are taught in Arabic and study the Koran. At the same time, several stress how important it is that the municipal schools have native Swedish speakers on the staff rather than immigrant teachers. Several interviewees mention the prejudice of native-born Swedish women, and that women have discriminated against them. Likewise,

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differences in social status are mentioned when they bring up the subject of other women, but never when they describe men and their views: Women in top positions oppress women who dont have a higher education; often its women with an immigrant background who oppress women who are on income support or out of work (2:3). One project participant described the chilly reception she met from a female official because she was a student with five children!and no income. Similar situations are outlined by Schierenbeck (2004) in a study of the encounters between front-line bureaucrats and immigrant clients. In general, it is precisely these kinds of contacts with civil servants or other local officials that the interviewees describe when they talk about women who have treated them in a patronizing fashion. Several interviewees mention that there is a general prejudice against veiled women in Sweden: Society undervalues us women in headscarves; women think that we veiled women are oppressed, dont know anything, and that the ones from the Middle East are the stupidest. Thats the picture of us in Swedish minds (2:5). A completely different experience is described by a woman who had gone through a divorce, something that according to her ex-husband and former countrymen broke with traditional norms. She keeps returning to the fact that she has the backing of the law, and that she now lives in Sweden where a divorce is seen as something quite normal. But she also says that she gets no help from the police when she feels threatened. In this section the interviews have been analysed in accordance with the dimension inclusion-exclusion with a focus on social and cultural aspects. Constitutional inclusion is important, which is demonstrated by the fact that legal citizenship has been applied for and granted to 14 of the 16 interviewees. The question of social and cultural inclusion elicits more varied responses. Cultural affiliation is mentioned most when talking about close neighbours or other project participants. Friends are described in terms of the countries from which they have fled or emigrated. The interviewees own ethnicity is contrasted with the stereotypical notions others have of them, and in those cases where the interviewees belonged to minorities in their native countries, with the stereotypical notions held by their former countrymen. It is rare for participants to speak of the projects as positive cultural communities; on the contrary, many see the disadvantages of the lack of ethnic Swedish participants, for example, or of Arabic being the dominant language in the case of one project. On the other hand, it is seen as a considerable advantage that their native languages are heard where they live, and it gives them a sense of community that many of their neighbours are also immigrants. The projects work actively towards making citizens, but they do not operate in

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isolation: The participants previous experiences with institutions, power relationships, and their social circumstances naturally also influence their experienced citizenship.

Inclusion-exclusion: Political identity

In general, trust in opportunities to change their living conditions through political means is weak among the project participants. Despite this, there are many examples of political activities. The responses clearly illustrate how multiple power relations interact and make it difficult to find opportunities to gain political influence in a system that has not taken conflicts related to discrimination into consideration. Not one of the interviewees refers to their membership in cultural associations as a means of influencing society or of obtaining assistance in changing their situation. On the other hand, one interviewee dreams of starting an association to support women in situations similar to her own. One of the project participants who had left a terrifying marriage has received a great deal of support from the local womens shelter. The same woman was subsequently barred from taking part in the local ethnic association because of her divorce. When some of the interviewees discuss the issue of political representation and gender equality, they emphasize that more women, regardless of ethnicity, ought to become politicians. Another interviewee argues that, in Sweden, it is irrelevant whether political representatives are women or men. Women are prosperous and generally well treated in Sweden, although she would like to see more women politicians in her previous homeland. The idea that ethnic Swedish women might offer something positive for immigrant women is otherwise met with scepticism: Swedish women mostly help Swedes, not immigrants. They see an immigrant woman as an oppressed woman; ignorant; a stupid and demeaned woman. When it comes to ethnicity and political representation, about half of the interviewees thought that immigrant politicians, regardless of their country of origin, would represent them better than ethnic Swedes could. That said, the predominant tone was one of general distrust in politicians, regardless of their country of origin: Everyone wants to win elections and take power; their background as immigrants is no guarantee for us immigrants (2:5). One interviewee went so far as to say that it might be damaging for immigrants to hold political office. On the other hand, there was a general appreciation of the chance to speak to local politicians in Arabic and to obtain official information in their native languages.

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One of the arguments for why immigrants should become politicians is that they have been on the receiving end of racism themselves: They help us reveal the racism in society, and specially hidden racism they can show that we are a community that we are different but have the same worth (1:2). Racism and discrimination are also given as reasons why it does not matter much whether politicians have an immigrant background: There needs to be more immigrants. One or two for appearances sake to show that we immigrants are accepted is not enough (1:3). An interesting difference is that, in one of the projects, there is open distrust in politicians, while in the other!in another municipality!there is a more positive opinion, and a general belief that things would improve for immigrant citizens if they were represented by politicians who are immigrants themselves. As to political participation and commitment, in the eyes of most of the interviewees!even those who expressed the strongest distrust of politicians!political citizenship brings with it both the right and the responsibility to vote. Participants in one of the projects were encouraged to find out about the general election of 2006, a couple of politicians came to talk about the electoral platforms of their parties, and the project was visited by two government ministers. Most of the project participants took the opportunity to vote when they had a group visit to a polling station where the polling officers showed them the election procedure. In a couple of instances, project participants had asserted their rights collectively, putting their views to politicians and civil servants. On one occasion, they collectively protested against the regulations for that particular projects operation; during a ministerial visit they took the chance to tell the minister about their dissatisfaction with the projects working hours. Most of the mothers had turned to their childrens schools for information on how their children were doing, but none of them had tried to act collectively in an institutionalized forum to change the situation, for example by getting involved in school governing boards or parent associations. However, together with project staff, they have tried to change the rules that affected them most immediately, one example being the times for dropping off and picking up from nursery school. A couple of interviewees received help from the staff in objecting to the job centres assessment of their educational qualifications. Another woman described how she had been helped by a friend to appeal against a decision on social security payments. The right to demonstrate has been used to draw attention to conditions in the interviewees former homelands, particularly against the war in Iraq. However, none of the interviewees has taken part in demonstrations to

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change conditions in Sweden. Some of the project participants have continued to fight for minority rights in their native countries, for example by demonstrating in Sweden. In this section, the dimension inclusion-exclusion has been analysed with a focus on how political rights and political participation are experienced. The interviewees describe themselves as having severely restricted options, and evince scant faith in their ability to change their situation in the future. Generally there is little confidence in politicians, and only a few speak of collective organization and mobilization as a possible basis for effecting change. Subordination stemming from ethnic, gender, and class relations is much in evidence in the womens narratives. Such interwoven and mutually constitutive power relationships serve to complicate the creation of a collective identity, of the type that, according to Mouffe, would have the potential to reformulate interpretations of equality and freedom, and lead to collective action for change. Several participants explain, for example, that they cannot count on the support of ethnic Swedish women or on pursuing a common cause with them because of stereotypical assumptions about women who wear headscarves. In contrast, other interviewees wish they could have more encounters with women who grew up in Sweden.

Constructing citizenship: Emancipating and disciplining

The aim of the projects is, among other things, to strengthen the participants and integrate them into society. The projects and their specific operations limit who can participate; a target group is selected. By studying the recruitment process, a picture emerges of which particular group is thought to need support. The creation of a target group can be seen as one stage in the construction of identity; being described as belonging to a particular group influences both ones own and others ideas of who one is (Cruikshank 1999, 69, 76; cf. Fraser and Gordon 2006; Ingram, Schneider and deLeon 2007). Several interviewees describe the experience of being recruited involuntarily, while others say that they volunteered for the project after having heard about it. The reason for the difference in their experiences is that the managers of one project initially set out actively to recruit participants, the project became known, and several women subsequently applied to join. Involuntary recruitment was possible because of the womens economic dependence; the interviewees describe themselves as dependent, as not having any real choice (cf. Stubbergaard 2008).

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Both projects have ties to the social services, the social insurance office, and the job centre. In the second project, described above, participants illness and activity compensation are reckoned as part of the national cofinancing that EU projects must have. The fact that the participants benefits are dependent on their attendance record, as reported to their case officers, despite the project activities involving actual work, is seen by the women as a form of disciplining. Such measures mean that they continue to see themselves as dependent, despite having project work, and this merely complicates the process of emancipation. It risks reinforcing subordination through the use of control and discipline, while the threat of a withdrawal of benefits serves as a penalty. The obstacles to the participants choosing their own project work and traineeship strengthen their sense of powerlessness. At the same time, several interviews show that, despite the obstacles created by the regulations, the participants find some scope for change. Another target group criterion is that participants should be immigrant women. In one project, as mentioned, most participants see it as a problem that in effect mainly Arabic-speaking women are involved. Restricting participation to immigrants can reinforce segregation and the identification as dependant. Another problem with this kind of integration project is that such projects are intended to be temporary. In a project with a fixed closing date, there is considerable anxiety about what will happen next. In the project that is now on a permanent footing, the women are expected to participate for anywhere from six months to two years. When it became apparent that there were women who risked social isolation because they still had not found a foothold on the labour market, a parallel project was set up so they could continue under the aegis of the social services. Shortterm projects with uncertain immediate futures run the risk of contributing to a sense of powerlessness, of being dependent on the goodwill of others. In both projects, the participants feel they get support from most of the project staff and that their self-confidence has grown. One of the projects is managed by a woman who is highly appreciated by the interviewees. Her support in helping them try to change their situation is stressed. For some, her commitment and help have enabled them to join the ordinary labour market. A recurrent theme in all the interviews in this project is that the project manager shows respect and recognition. She listens and makes every effort to maintain a dialogue on the participants future plans. Some of the women from the second project emphasize that, for their part, participation has brought with it greater respect both from their families and their social circle. They now leave home to go to work,

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something that you are obliged to do and that is considered normal in Swedish society. That it is not normal work is more than apparent from the salaries, however: They receive only a small sum from the social insurance office or the welfare office while they participate in the project. The difficulty of making ends meet compounded by the stigma of being on benefits rather than receiving wages is mentioned in most of the interviews. In this section, the interviews show clearly that recognition and respect are crucial to whether the women experience emancipatory citizenship. In one project, participants acted collectively because they all had the same obligations to the project!obligations they felt were unreasonable. Similar situations that provoke a strong response are when participants are treated as dependent and deviant. Economic dependence on minimal income support, reports to case officers, and in some cases difficulties in finding a traineeship, mean that for many participants the projects can also be experienced as disciplinary. Events that can be described as emancipatory are particularly associated with the support of individual staff members. Some women see their very participation as emancipatory; by having a workplace and colleagues, they now have a working week that would be considered normal in Swedish society. Disciplinary measures are related primarily to regulations and authorities outside the project. Above all, encounters with civil servants have a direct influence on their income support and employment. The dread of being seen as nothing more than dependents, or worse as deviants, is hard to shake off.

Concluding remarks
The theoretical framework illustrates how constructions of citizenship can be studied. When applied to interviews with long-termed unemployed immigrants, it became clear that some aspects within the framework could be elaborated further. Mouffes theories of collective identification and multiple identities and Ingram et al.s theories of constructing target groups would all benefit from an explicit theoretical discussion of discrimination based on gender, class and ethnicity. The interviews make clear that it is important to consider both experienced citizenship and formal (as well as informal) regulations and means of control in discussions of constructing citizenship identities. Goals of including immigrants to Swedish society, which are formulated in political reforms, and interpreted and implemented in concrete programmes and projects, interact with individuals interpretations of these ambitions. The interviews provided examples of activities that the

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programme participants experienced as disciplining, although they were officially formulated as emancipating, and that can clearly be seen as reinforcing a self-image of belonging to the category of dependent. The interpretations of the interviews contribute to an understanding of experienced opportunities for and obstacles to becoming a citizen in Swedish society. The sense of being discriminated against or treated without respect, particularly in connection with economic dependence, makes inclusion and citizenship difficult to achieve in practice. Some interviews pointed to a desire to transform social positions and the practice of citizenship by creating a collective identity and mobilizing politically, in line with the discussion by Mouffe (1993). Forming womens group was mentioned as a possible strategy to improve subordinated positions. One of the obstacles mentioned several times was the perceived discrimination of Muslim women who wear veils by Swedish women. This highlights the need to take intersected power relations!combining, e.g., ethnicity, gender and class!into account when discussing possibilities of creating collective identities.

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Acknowledgements
I am grateful to all project participants and project staff who kindly shared their experiences with us. I also wish to thank Mahin Kiwi for her commitment in the study and for all interviews conducted in several languages, and John Hennessey for his kindness to always standing by with proof-reading. All the participants in the workshop on "Diversity, Inclusion and Citizenship" in Troms have contributed with helpful comments.