Synopsis
This project investigated the citizenship test and ceremony that have been in place in the UK since 2004-05.  The research team examined the history of the adoption of the test and ceremony by the New Labour government and analysed Government policy discourse in order to identify the assumptions about ‘good citizenship’ and social cohesion that have informed the new process. Interviews and focus groups were then conducted with two types of participants in Stoke-on-Trent: i) key informants involved with the process at the local level (e.g., registrars, ESOL teachers, migrant support workers); and ii) newcomers who have taken citizenship-embedded ESOL courses or the Life in the UK test and/or attended ceremonies. Overall, the findings suggest that the process has achieved a degree of basic integration while failing to create the ‘British citizens’ with the ‘shared values’ that the Government claims will enable greater social cohesion.

Account of research carried out
The research project was driven by the following questions: i) What does the adoption of this new process tell us about the Government’s understanding of ‘British citizenship’?  ii) What are the impacts of the tests and ceremonies on new immigrants’ understanding of what it means to be a British citizen? and iii) Has the Government’s new process achieved what it has set out to achieve?
In the first stage of the project, the team developed a document archive and an historical map of events and decisions leading up to the New Labour Government’s adoption of the citizenship ceremony and test.  We critically analysed Government policy documents (e.g., White and Green Papers) and Government commissioned reports relating to the adoption, implementation and delivery of the new citizenship/naturalisation process (e.g., by Lord Goldsmith, the Advisory Board on Naturalisation and Integration.). We developed a critical analysis of the Government’s intentions, assumptions, and evaluations with respect to the role of the citizenship process in the domestic political sphere, including its potential to enhance social cohesion and reduce threats of terrorism and radicalisation within the UK population.

In the second stage, the team conducted qualitative research in Stoke-on-Trent. The aim was to contribute to greater understanding of those on ‘the receiving end’ of the Government’s citizenship process by talking to a range of people in one city who have first hand experience of it. We interviewed key informants to develop an understanding of the institutional, political, and cultural context of this particular local place in which the new citizenship process operates. We interviewed an ex-councillor and a current Stoke city councillor, two registrars, four ESOL teachers from a local Further Education college, and five people working as advocates and support workers for new immigrants to Stoke.  We then spoke to 20 immigrants to the UK who are in different stages of the so-called ‘journey to citizenship’.  We conducted two individual interviews, one paired-depth interview, and three focus groups. Participants were recruited through public announcements and assistance from key informants. Two focus groups involved ESOL learners who have come to the UK from non-EU countries in the developing world: one of these took place at a local Further Education college, the other in a Community Partnership Learning sewing class for Pakistani women.  The third focus group involved English-speaking immigrants from the USA, Canada and New Zealand who work and/or study at Keele University. We asked key informants and participants about their knowledge and experience of the process.

In addition to interviews and focus groups, we observed two citizenship ceremonies at the city’s Register Office. Throughout the project Sherilyn MacGregor, who emigrated from Canada in 2004, went through the various stages of the citizenship process herself. As of June 2009 she has completed all stages, and has been invited to attend a ceremony.  A blog of her experiences of, and reactions to, the process forms part of the data on which the research draws. 

Key findings about the citizenship process
The research provides a critical ‘check’ on the Government’s own positive evaluation of the new citizenship process. We make the general conclusion that, far from being a resounding success, there are elements of the citizenship process that contribute to ‘integration’ in a very basic way, as well as elements that undermine the Government’s own rationale for bringing it into being. 

We found that there are aspects of the process that help newcomers to feel included and enable them to ‘integrate’. The ESOL requirements, when there are free courses and courses offered in a culturally sensitive manner, are especially beneficial for immigrants who find it difficult to venture out from their own homes and cultural enclaves.  For some, attending college and community projects are invaluable ways to meet others and learn about the everyday practices and customs that will enable them to ‘settle’ in the UK. But much of the background work that is required to help newcomers learn English and to navigate the citizenship process is done by ESOL teachers and support workers who receive insufficient funding and little recognition from the Government.

There are two ways in which the process fails to live up to Government goals.  First, integration may be happening at a basic level, but the cultivation of citizenship as a common bond and shared values is not. Neither the ESOL classes nor citizenship test contributes to newcomers’ understanding of citizenship beyond a narrowly instrumental meaning (i.e., it mostly means acquiring a British passport). Second, the process serves to make people feel excluded and thereby undermines the goal of social cohesion.  The process also excludes by taking up time and money that immigrants might otherwise use for activities that would allow them to ‘integrate’ in a more meaningful way.  A common complaint is that the process is time-consuming, expensive and complicated, and thus a difficult ‘project’ to undertake for all but a privileged few. Making ESOL central to the citizenship process is a double-edged sword: it may put newcomers on the ‘education ladder’ while at the same time creating unrealistic expectations among UK-born citizens which, when not met, serve to confirm negative assumptions about immigrants. The language used by the Government and Border Agency to explain the process (both to newcomers and citizens) is unwelcoming and punitive, serving to undermine the official claim that the citizenship process works to forge common bonds and better community relations.

Insights from people on the receiving end of the citizenship process
To date there has been very little research on the experiences of newcomers and those who support them with the new citizenship process. Our project makes a valuable contribution to knowledge by giving voice to some first-hand insights and responses. Unlike other studies, ours includes participants from affluent countries (e.g., Canada, USA) as well as less developed countries (e.g., Sudan, Afghanistan).   In the interviews and focus groups we heard a range of personal stories about, and interpretations of, the citizenship process. These stories enabled us to develop an understanding of the strengths and failings of the process described above.  They provided a rich body of data to analyse and there are many themes that that will be pursued in further research. Most significantly, differences in how immigrants experience the process depending on their race, class, educational backgrounds and country of origin opens up important areas for analysis. 

Results of this research were presented at the 59th Political Studies Association Annual Conference on 9 April 2009. The paper can be downloaded from the PSA site here.