Participatory sense-making of citizenship within the context of municipality-led citizen participation

Abstract

When thinking about citizenship, one of the first things that come to mind is belonging to a national identity expressed through passports, residential permission, and other legal documents. However, citizenship comprises a much larger spectrum, and since legal citizenship comes with benefits it is not surprising that it becomes a highly contested concept, as it defines in the context of state policies who receives benefits and who does not. Citizenship in public participation comes along with having a voice in political decision-making for “co-creating urban boroughs” affecting residents' quality of life. In this ethnographic study, I draw on citizenship formation in citizen initiatives through which social identity, claims of participatory rights, civic obligations, and entitlements are expressed. I suggest approaching it as an identity issue that provides an understanding of marginalization by looking into the micropolitics of representation not only produced by the local authority but also re-produced by citizens themselves. This thesis examines citizenship used as a marker for defining who is included and excluded but also who becomes part of its imagination by introducing the concepts of “itinerary of silencing” and “postcolonial semiotics.” Citizen mobilization is not to be seen as only a rational decision, but rather as an affective act shaping the emotional experiences of citizens. Thereby, this ethnographic study elicits responses to affect and its implications on dynamics between citizen initiative and the local authority as well as to the inclusion and exclusion debate within public political spaces like citizen initiative.