A journey to citizenship: Constructions of citizenship and identity in the British Citizenship Test

Gray, Debra; Griffin, Christine

Abstract

The British Citizenship Test was introduced in 2005 as one of a raft of new procedures aimed at addressing the perceived problems of integration and social cohesion in migrant communities. In this study, we argue that this new citizenship procedure signals a shift in British political discourse about citizenship - particularly, the institutionalization of a common British citizen identity that is intended to draw citizens together in a new form of political/national community. In line with this, we examine the British Citizenship Test from a social psychological perspective to interrogate the ways in which the test constitutes identity, constitutes citizenship, and constitutes citizenship-as-identity. Analysis of the test and its associated documents highlights three ways in which Britishness-as-identity is constituted, that is, as a collective identity, as a superordinate and national identity, and finally as both a destination and a journey. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for models of citizenship and models of identity. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Citation

Gray, D., & Griffin, C. (2014). A journey to citizenship: Constructions of citizenship and identity in the British Citizenship Test. British Journal of Social Psychology, 53(2), 299-314. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12042

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2014
• Journal: British Journal of Social Psychology
• Print ISSN: 0144-6665
• Electronic ISSN: 2044-8309
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 53
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 299-314
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12042
• Keywords: citizenship, identity, national identity, Britishness, citizenship testing, British citizenship test, political discourse, new labour
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/816741
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12042
• Related Public URLs: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)2044-8309
• Additional Information: Additional Information : Availalbe online 27 June 2013.