[Commlist] New book: Youth perspectives on citizenship discourses: Navigating exclusionary public sphere rhetoric against the backdrop of ‘inclusive’ citizenship education

New book
Youth perspectives on citizenship discourses: Navigating exclusionary 
public sphere rhetoric against the backdrop of ‘inclusive’ citizenship 
education
by Dansholm, Kerenina Kezaride

https://uis.brage.unit.no/uis-xmlui/handle/11250/3065668


Description
This dissertation is an exploration of youth perceptions of citizenship 
and attendant discourses. The research is situated within the Norwegian 
context where the language offers two important words for citizen: 
‘statsborger’ or legal citizen and ‘medborger’ or co-citizen. The 
dissertation takes the inclusive discourse of citizenship education in 
schools as an implicit foundational starting point, while explicitly 
exploring the exclusionary rhetoric of othering visible in public 
debate. The empirical data consists of group interviews with 44 students 
in three 10th grade classes in three Norwegian schools. The first 
article offers an analysis of how participating students discuss 
membership dimensions of citizenship, drawing on the interplay of 
discourse with the material to express varying degrees of inclusive and 
exclusionary stances. The findings show that students in these 10th 
grade classes consistently appeal to material or sensory tokens to 
justify belonging or otherness, whether understood as Norwegian-ness or 
legal citizenship. Paying special attention to the role of the material 
(herein covering physical appearance, clothing, and audible language) 
for justifying or challenging belonging allows racially and religiously 
prejudiced citizenship discourse to be more clearly highlighted. The 
findings in this article point to a need to set aside discomfort and 
embarrassment regarding frank discussions on material aspects embedded 
in racialised and exclusionary citizenship discourses in order to aid 
youth in deconstructing racialised and religious prejudice. The second 
article is a case study (from one school) of student discussions of 
rights and responsibilities. Student participants spoke of rights as 
belonging to the majority or to the minoritized Other. In line with 
earlier research findings, students referenced human rights as national 
rights or values, while making explicit connections between majority 
rights and minority responsibilities and implicit references to the 
responsibility of the majority to protect minority rights. This analysis 
indicates a need in citizenship education and its adjacent field of 
human rights education (HRE) for both legal literacy and a deeper 
discussion of human rights. This can, for example, be achieved through a 
focus on the local context so that youth may better understand minority 
barriers to rights, as well as the role of the majority in issues of 
social justice. The third article focuses on the two Norwegian words for 
citizen: statsborger and medborger, translated in this dissertation as 
legal citizen and co-citizen. The findings are analysed through the lens 
of subject positions and capabilities, with the results showing that 
students appropriate categories and storylines within public debate in 
order to frame different citizen subject positions as either one of ‘us’ 
or ‘them’. Dichotomies and overlaps are also visible in descriptions of 
citizen capabilities as either legal, ideal, or societal. Legal 
capabilities, understood as the juridically defined rights of majority 
and minority legal citizens and co-citizens, are less clear to students 
and are at times obscured by societal capabilities, or the rhetoric 
within public debate— such as anti-immigrant narratives—which may hinder 
minority capabilities. Additionally, ideal capabilities, or democratic 
values, often stand in conflict with the exclusionary rhetoric of public 
debate. The main contribution which these research findings offer is 
that a citizenship lens allows for a nuanced exploration of citizen 
subject positions and attendant capabilities within a democracy, 
including exploration of the challenges which minority citizens may 
face. Being explicit about the who (subject position), what 
(categories), and how (storylines) of democratic participation will 
allow students a more critical understanding of citizenship (both legal 
citizenship and co-citizenship) than the predominantly values-centred 
discussions which are often a staple of citizenship education. The 
fourth article was co-authored together with my co-interviewers, as in 
the article, we explore the role of (in)visible difference, affect, and 
resistance in discussions on citizenship—both for the students and for 
us as researchers. In the group discussions, we found that positionality 
played a central role, in framing understandings of citizenship, 
belonging, and discrimination. As white researchers who also experience 
(in)visible differences, we reflect on the students’ explicit 
discussions of difference, as well as their reactions to our implicit 
and explicitly acknowledged difference. Additional reflections are put 
forth on leveraging invisible difference to create space for an 
inclusive understanding of citizenship, resisting ideas of 
ethno-nationalism. This discussion demonstrates the potential which 
experiences with (in)visible difference have for contributing to more 
inclusive understandings of citizenship—both legal citizenship and 
co-citizenship. Further potential implications are that acknowledgement 
of invisible difference by white majority educators may help to open 
space for an understanding of difference as a citizenship resource. In 
this capstone or extended summary, I explore in detail the context for 
the study, map the relevant literature, discuss theory and methodology 
in depth, as well as ruminate on the contributions of the dissertation 
to the field. Some of the main overall findings echo those of prior 
research, such as the need for a vocabulary which facilitates explicit 
engagement with citizenship issues, and concretely tackles the lived 
reality of both minority and majority citizenship. Specifically, by 
approaching citizenship education through the lens of the concept, the 
multidimensionality of citizenship can be explored while the discourses 
which youth use to make sense of the concept become visible. This 
dissertation highlights both youth understandings as well as 
misunderstandings, and problematises not only exclusionary discourses 
which frame racialised minorities in Europe as Other, but also lack of 
clarity on (minority) citizen rights—which are vital for the realisation 
of an inclusive and just society. Moreover, difference in all its varied 
forms must not be shied away from but must be addressed directly, 
positively, and as the resource which it is.
Has parts
Paper 1: Dansholm, K.K. (2022) Material Interpolations: Youth engagement 
with inclusive and exclusionary citizenship discourses. Journal of 
Social Sceince Education, 21(1), 77-98. DOI: 10.11576/jsse-3514

Paper 2: Dansholm, K.K. (2022) Majority rights and minority 
responsibilities : young people's negotiations with human rights. Human 
Rights Education Review, 4(3). DOI: 10.7577/hrer.3968

Paper 3: Dansholm, K.K. (2022) Students' understanding of legal 
citizenship and co-citizenship concepts: Subject positions and 
capabilities. Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education, 
6(2). DOI: 10.7577/njcie.4747

Paper 4: Dansholm, K.K., Dickstein, J., Stokmo, H.D. (2023) Visible and 
invisible difference: Negotiating citizenship, affect, and resistance. 
Accepted subject to minor revisions in Critical Education.
Publisher
University of Stavanger, Norway


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