Keele University citizenship research
I was very interested to take part in a seminar discussion last week up at Keele University, to discuss research into the impact of the 2004 changes to naturalisation for foreign nationals. Headed up by Sherilyn MacGregor at the Keele School of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy (SPIRE), this research is particularly useful because it comes at a time when citizenship is very much under the spotlight.
See the research website here: http://www.keele.ac.uk/research/lpj/newbritishcitizen/http://www.keele.ac.uk/research/lpj/newbritishcitizen/
The final research report hasn’t been finalised yet, so I’ll summarise: the research focuses on people who’ve been through the naturalisation process in Stoke on Trent since 2004 - following the introduction of the new ‘Life in the UK test’, minimum English requirement and citizenship ceremony as part of the process of becoming a Brit. At the time this was meant to help foreign nationals to adopt ’shared values’, and to increase the perceived value of British citizenship among migrants.
But the initial findings of the SPIRE research suggest that these government aims haven’t been met. This has been partly to do with inadequacies within the system which have made these new requirements even more difficult and drawn resentment from applicants, such as the general shortage of funding for provision of ESOL. But even more significantly, the research suggests that the changes made in 2004 were based on a flawed rationale, that the government can foster ’shared values’ and ‘community cohesion’ by increasing the costs and hurdles along the path to citizenship for migrants. Rather than feeling an increased sense of belonging by passing through the new tests and ceremonies, some interviewees reported feeling more excluded than before, approaching the requirements wearily.
The Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill, currently moving through Parliament, would make naturalisation even longer and more costly for migrants. Similar to the 2004 changes, it is geared towards improving the public perception of the naturalisation process, seemingly bearing no relation to the real experiences and motivations of those who settle for the long-term in the UK.
The Keele research will be formally launched in the autumn and I’ll put a link to it in this blog when it does. In the meantime, do follow the progress of the new Bill through Parliament either on the official website: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2008-09/borderscitizenshipandimmigration.html , or via the MRN newsletter.
Some very interesting points made there