“Swedes’ relations to their government are based on trust”

Banal Nationalism in Civic Orientation Courses for Newly Arrived Adult Migrants in Sweden

Abstract

Civic orientation has become one of the dominant immigrant integration policies in western Europe, with the aim of transmitting knowledge, norms, and values, thereby furthering “integration” into the new country. However, there is a not much research regarding how the educational content is communicated and negotiated in civic orientation courses in practice. This article aims to bring more empirically based knowledge in this field. The case study discussed in this article explores one specific module, entitled “nature and environment”, in civic orientation courses for newly arrived adults in Sweden. This is done through participatory observations in the courses, both in classrooms in real life and on the internet and exploring in detail the negotiations between the civic orientation communicators and the course participants. The analyses show how a real “success story” of Sweden and its citizens is constructed through an overall discourse of Swedes high awareness of the environment and nature, not least through comparisons between geographical spaces in the world. The analyses also re-veal antagonistic voices about the content, although these are not particularly strong. We suggest that there is an urgent need to critically reflect on the aim, content, and teaching practices of civic orientation courses for newly arrived migrants, as these more seem to contribute to the Swedish nation’s reproduction of “banal nationalism”.