Stratified Citizenship – Constructions of the “Permanent Resident” and “Naturalized Citizen” in the Danish Incorporation Policy Texts

By requirements for behavior and knowledge, residence permit and immigrant incorporation policies contribute to defining hierarchical orders of citizenship statuses with legal as well as social and symbolic implications. The Danish context is especially illustrative in this respect, as the country has developed one of the most restrictive and elaborate immigration and incorporation regimes in Europe since the early 2000s. Denmark is also known as a country that boasts high levels of political participation by the citizenry. The integration of a newcomer into such participatory culture would suggest that the individual makes use of the opportunities for political influence in their new country of residence. Public debates and the policy instruments applied however signal an anxiety around the potential of that influence. Language and knowledge tests have been adopted to secure that impeccability and adequate knowledge of the Danish society precede access to rights. This paper asks what kinds of citizenship constructions are forged through the test apparatus and test preparation material, especially with regard to political participation. It aims especially to examine the disparities between the discursive constructions of the “permanent resident” and the “naturalized citizen”. The paper also scrutinizes the silences in the test preparation material, asking what they tell about the potential tension between the wider policy discourses of active citizenship and participation, on the one hand, and the discourses of adaptation and conformity, on the other. As the promotion of civic participation increasingly features as a governance tool, what may the implications be for the civil society?