In this post I'm going to reflect upon the fifth lesson of ‘Communicative skills as a European Teacher’ in which I'll discuss 'Moralisation and virtualisation of citizenship'.

1. 'Integration' as 'citizenship'

We give the impression that foreigners are welcome and they can take part of our society, like it is a choice to take part, but in reality they are already taking part. We pretend to be the loyal society and the dominant culture, because they are ‘intruders’ and therefore they have to adapt themselves to be a part of it.

‘Make sure you’re part of it!’ stresses the importance attached to ‘individual responsibility’. The government makes ‘an appeal’ to all citizens to participate in society on the basis of mutual acceptance and equality. That presupposes the possibility to not take part of society. What is our society? They are part of it whether we like it or not. Our dominating norms aren’t the ‘right’ or ‘only’ ones.

2. The virtualisation of citizenship

The virtualisation of citizenship means that citizenship thereby becomes, instead of an actuality (a juridical status), a virtuality (a possible but absent actuality in diffuse and shifting moral terms).

Before the culturist phase it was assumed that once the immigrant had become a citizen in the formal sense he would in time commit him- or herself to society and become a citizen in the moral sense as well. Currently, however, it is the other way round. The immigrant now has to earn permanent residence and nationality by proving his or her acceptance of the fundamental norms of a Dutch society. 
It's a double process: newly arrived immigrants are required to first gain moral citizenship in order to apply for formal citizenship status as crowning achievement of their becoming-citizen. On the other hand, many who have formal citizenship status but who purportedly lack ‘integration’ as a consequence of their lack of ‘cultural adjustment’ are construed as only halfway there.

Active citizenship has two problems: the fact that ‘autochthones’ experience fear of Muslims and the fact that ‘allochtones’ feel unaccepted.

Julie