The citizen’s role has occupied political theorists from different philosophical and religious traditions. Debates on citizenship in Europe are increasingly thought of in terms of civic virtue and how to be a good citizen. Yet the concept of the good citizen is heavily contested.

  • Which tensions and contestations arise in debates on what it means to participate as an active citizen in society?
  • How do lived experiences of citizens today challenge existing models of democracy?
  • To what extent do these experiences contrast with official policies and public discourse, and in what ways are experiences and discourse affecting one another?

At this academic workshop we aim to debate these and other questions that brings together scholars with a wide background of disciplines, methodological approaches, geographical interests and thematic expertise.

The workshop is organized in conjunction with the research project Active Citizenship in Culturally and Religiously Diverse Societies (ACT), which is funded by the Research Council of Norway. Conveners are the ACT research team.

The workshop will not be open to the public.

Program

Wednesday 7 June 2017

08:30–09:00 Coffee and Registration Workshop opening Chair: Cindy Horst
09:00–10:00 Welcome, practical information, ACT project presentation and round of introductions

Session I: Democracy and the Active Citizen Chair: Per Mouritsen

10:00–10:40 Kjersti Fjørtoft, University of Tromsø

What is Good, Democratic Citizenship?

Discussant: Thomas Boje

10:40-11:00 Coffee Break

11:00-11:40 Carmen Geha, American University of Beirut
Formal and Informal Pedagogies of Active Citizenship: Lessons Learnt from the Middle East, Gulf and North Africa
Discussant: Cindy Horst

11:40–12:20 Maria-Fernanda Gonzalez Rojas, University of Tromsø
The Identity of a Good Citizen in Scenarios of Crisis: Some reflections on the case of Mexico
Discussant: Marta Bivand Erdal

12:20–13:20 Lunch

Session II: Drivers of Civic Engagement Chair: Marta Bivand Erdal

13:20–14:00 Cindy Horst (Peace Research Institute Oslo) and Odin Lysaker (Agder University)
Miracles in Dark Times: Hannah Arendt and Refugees as Political Subjects
Discussant: Constanza Vera-Larrucea

14:00–14:40 Tore Vincents Olsen, Aarhus University
Muslim’s Views on Homosexuality in Danish Public Debate
Discussant: Margaretha van Es

14:40-15:20 Noor Jdid, Peace Research Institute Oslo
Exclusion as a Driver to take Responsibility
Discussant: Kjersti Fjørtoft

15:20-16:20 Discussion

Dinner: TBA

Thursday 8 June 2017

Session III: Citizenship and Belonging Chair: Cindy Horst

08:15-08.30 Coffee

08:30-09:10 Thomas Boje, University of Roskilde
Inclusive Act of Citizenship: Framing the Condition for Good Citizens
Discussant: Noor Jdid

09:10-09:50 Margaretha van Es, Utrecht University
Muslims Condemning Violent Extremism: The Promise of the Social Contract and the Need to be a «Good Citizen»
Discussant: Jonas Jacobsen

09:50-10:30 Elin Doeland and Ebba Tellander, Peace Research Institute Oslo
Everyday Stories of Home: Why Citizenship Matters
Discussant: Per Mouritsen

10:30–10:50 Coffee Break

Session IV: Spatialisations of Citizenship 1 Chair: Jonas Jakobsen

10:50–11:30 Camilla Marucco, University of Turku
Women with a Somali background in Turku, Finland: Everyday Spaces, Ideas and Practices of Citizenship
Discussant: Britt Lynnebakke

11:30–12:10 Marta Bivand Erdal, Peace Research Institute Oslo
Migration and Multiscalar Lived Citizenship: Theorising the interactions of migrant transnationalism and Integration
Discussant: Martijn Koster

12:10–13:10 Lunch

Session IV: Spatialisations of Citizenship 2 Chair: Tore Vincents Olsen

13:10-13:50 Britt Lynnebakke, Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research and Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences
The Art of Socialising: Social Integration and Associational Participation in a Rural Norwegian Place
Discussant: Maria-Fernanda Gonzalez Rojas

13:50-14:30 Constanza Vera-Larrucea, Stockholm University
Can External Citizens be Good Citizens? Dual Citizens in Sweden about their «Second» Belonging
Discussant: Tore Vincents Olsen

14:30-15:30 Discussion

Dinner: TBA

Friday 9 June 2017

08:30–09:00 Coffee

Session V: Contesting the Good Citizen Chair: Noor Jdid

09:00–09:40 Jonas Jakobsen, University of Tromsø, and Per Mouritsen, Aarhus University
Civic Integration as Civic (mis)recognition: Potentials and Problems in Honneth’s political philosophy
Discussant: Odin Lysaker

09.40–10:20 Martijn Koster, Radboud University

Mediating citizenship: Political brokerage in Brazil and the Netherlands
Discussant: Carmen Geha

10.20–11:00 Cindy Horst and Marta Bivand Erdal, Peace Research Institute Oslo

«The Model Active Citizen»: Asserting and Contesting Perceived Norms of Participation, Commitment and Belonging in Oslo
Discussant: Camilla Marucco

11:00–12:00 Discussion

12:00–13:00 Lunch