Course description
This doctoral course examines citizenship, civil society and integration as interconnected and contested fields of theory and practice. It explores how rights, participation, belonging and access to resources are shaped by migration, diversity and inequality, and by the political, social and institutional conditions in which individuals and communities are situated. A central concern is the relationship between formal institutions and lived experiences of inclusion and exclusion, and between individual agency and wider structures of power and opportunity.
Citizenship is approached both as formal legal membership and as the substantive capacity to exercise civil, political, social and cultural rights. The course engages with classical and contemporary theories of citizenship and considers how citizenship is differentiated through class, gender, ethnicity, migration and racialisation. Attention is given to how states and welfare institutions define membership, distribute rights and resources, and produce boundaries of inclusion and exclusion.
Integration is examined as an influential but contested way of conceptualising inclusion, participation and incorporation. The course considers shifts from assimilationist and one-directional models towards relational, multidirectional and capability-based approaches, asking who is expected to integrate, into what, on whose terms and with what responsibilities. It examines how institutional and political conditions enable or constrain participation and inclusion.
Civil society is approached as an associational sphere, a provider of welfare and services, a site of democratic participation, and an arena of collective action and social change. The course considers both its inclusive potential and the inequalities that may be reproduced within civil society, as well as how organisations mobilise resources and connect individuals and communities with institutions.
Bringing these perspectives together, the course provides students with theoretical and analytical tools for critically examining rights, difference, responsibility and belonging, and for applying these perspectives to their own doctoral research.
Requirements and Selection
Entry requirements
Eligible applicants are individuals admitted to doctoral postgraduate studies in the Social Sciences or other related areas at the University of Gothenburg or other universities. A very good knowledge of English, both in speech and writing, will be required to be able to take the course.
Selection
Doctoral students enrolled at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Gothenburg and at REMESO at Linköping University will be given priority for admission to the course.
The number of participants is limited to 14. Applicants will be assessed and admitted to the course based on the relevance of their doctoral research projects to the course learning outcomes. A good command of English is essential.
Educational partnership
The Swedish Research Council's Research school is a collaboration between the University of Gothenburg and Linköping University.
Link to website
https://www.gu.se/global-migration/vetenskapsradets-vr-forskarskola-i-migration-och-integration
Course syllabus
SC30020
Reading and reference list
Reading and reference list for the course
Department
Department of Sociology and Work Science
Subject
Social Science
Type of course
Subject area course
Research School/Graduate School
Graduate School in Migration and Integration
Keywords
theories of citizenship, civil society, integration, citizenship models,