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Shaik2011.Pdf 1 2 Education, Governance and Frames of Political Membership: Migrant `Integration` Policy as Discourse in the Swiss case within Europe Farah Jeelani Shaik Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Edinburgh March 2011 3 4 DECLARATION I have composed this thesis The thesis is my own work The thesis has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualificattion except as specified Farah Jeelani Shaik Signature: ---------------------------------------------- 5 6 Acknowledgements The years of PhD have been a journey of growth, in which many wonderful people have appeared, reappeared and also simply sustained old ties of friendship, love and support. For the presence of all these kindred, I am sincerely grateful and humbly recognise that every little interaction, anecdote, advise, comforting word, confidence, hug, shared moment and the establishment of trust form the vital and most essential part of a journey. Rarely does one come across a mentor, who has the ability to nurture, motivate, foster, gently guide and inspire at the same time; I am deeply appreciative of the valuable guidance by Jenny Ozga, who`s infallible capacity to draw out the best in people, in terms of ideas, constructive and shared motivation and also putting at ease, has given me so much space for development. Thank you for all the shared discussions and nudges in the directions I needed; and mostly also for being a surrogate parent in Edinburgh! Many thanks to Bob Lingard and Christina Boswell, for their great supervision, input and valuable discussions. Remembering the many early trips of FABQ meetings, I always had the impression of travelling and working with a little family: I thank the members of this family; Martin Lawn, Sotiria Grek and Linda Croxford for all the informal and yet invaluable supervision and guidance they provided from the beginning of my PhD and for their support. Sotiria, my first friend in Edinburgh, thank you for making me a part of your life and for all the precious moments we share. From the very beginning, my parents, Mahjabeen and Jeelani, are the essential driving force for all that I do; I would like to thank them humbly for their unconditional love, motivation, strength, support, patience, inspiration, faith and unlimited liberty they have always given me. It is to you both that I owe everything. A little getaway and family love is what I always could find in Kent; my sincere thanks to my uncle, aunt and two brothers; Naveed, Affu, Zayd and Taha. For all the time in which I was lovingly included and for the energy and strength you provide. My dear friends, old and new; Maria Schocher and Olinda Sanchez, thank you for being part of my life through thick and thin, for the sisterly love and support, and for putting up with all those years away in Edinburgh and stories of the thesis! I want to thank especially my little circle of womanhood, founded in Edinburgh; Elpida Pavlidou, Kristina Konstantoni and Kaori Kimura for all that we share, build, dream about and savour. Without you, this time would not have been what it was; a haven of sisterhood! The end of this time marks at the same time a most precious and new beginning: I want to thank Christophe for coming into my life at this given time and for being his gentle loving self, and for supporting me in all stages that follow. These first steps we take together are full of faith, poetry and trust. 7 8 THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH ABSTRACT OF THESIS Name of Candidate: Farah Jeelani Shaik Address : Im Trichtisal 2, 8053 Zurich, Switzerland, Postcode: 8053 Degree: PhD in Education Title of Thesis: Education, Governance and Frames of Political Membership: Migrant `Integration` policy as discourse in the Swiss case within Europe No. of words in the main text of Thesis: 94`996 This study looks at Switzerland as an example of Western-European nation states` strategic efforts to create migrant `integration` agendas, which attempt the convergence of different, largely statist economic interests. According to the Swiss Federal Government`s overarching agenda, education is a key arena for advancement of the `integration` of migrants in Swiss systems and society. I explore whether this statist strategy conceals and contains pre-existing power relations in relation to definitions of the ‘political membership’ of migrants. This study understands public policy as a carrier of shared ideas and ideologies transgressing national borders. It attempts to map the socio-political dimensions of policy discourses. ‘Dominant` discourses of neo-liberalism and New Public Management in education policy reform in Switzerland in 2008 are examined. The examination connects arguments related to `soft` governance in processes of Europeanisation and the emergence of a European shared space of education - in which Switzerland positions itself in particular ways - as policy through governance. It explores how this policy is referenced in a national normative context. I investigate the use of education standards drawn from comparative studies, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and how these are related to the migrant `integration` mandate of the Swiss Federal government and the Canton of Zurich education authorities specifically for education agenda-setting. The study engages with the `problematisation` of migrants in Swiss education discourses, (re-) triggering a national response which constructs, diffuses and institutionalises shared ideas of European policies within the logic of pre-existing normative ideologies about `migrants`, nation-building, `national identity`, `culture` and norms of political membership. I examine discourses in policy texts, media texts and policy actors` narratives, in order to map the framing of a structural migrant `integration` policy reform and a loose policy `network` of `integration`. Moreover, I approach this discursive evidence in its relation to the historical and economic developments of migration within Europe in the last few decades; an account of Switzerland`s developing relationship to the EU; the integration and citizenship conceptions issuing from these developments and `political membership` as understood in this study. Methodologically, I use eclectically a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) approach to researching Europe through the social bases, which are to be found in the national socio- political policy contexts: in other words the `translation` of deterritorialised politics into national policy `solutions`. These deterritorialised policies frame and address social- democratic ideas such as `equality of opportunity`/`equity`/`inclusion` through standards introduced in education in what is termed an `integration` framework. Integration however is directly related to issues of `political membership`. This study deals with how the use of social-democratic education standards as ‘flags of convenience’ may serve the liberal state in maintaining power relations. Lastly, it highlights the potentially cosmetic instrumentalisation and misapplication of education and its role in perpetuating pre-existing normative exclusionary principles of political membership. 9 10 Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 13 1.1 Synopsis 13 1.2 Education and Membership 15 1.3 Research on Political Membership 17 1.4 Swiss Deterritorialised Politics `in` Europe 21 1.5 The Approach to Discourse 26 1.5.1 The structure of analysis 26 1.5.2 An adapted model to the discursive approach 29 1.5.3 Discourse, Knowledge and Power 36 1.5.4 The Critical and Constructive aspects of CDA 42 1.6 The logic and structure of the thesis 46 1.7 Role of the Researcher and Reflexivity 49 Chapter 2: Methodology 53 2.1 Application of the dialectical-relational CDA 53 2.2 Operationalization of Discourse: The Europeanisation of Education Policy in Switzerland 58 2.2.1 Comparison and a new symbolic language . 58 2.2.2 Nation-building, Education and Citizenship 65 2.2.3 The Economizing of Knowledge and Education 66 Chapter 3: Literature Review 73 3.1 Section 1: The development in the concepts of membership 73 3.1.1 Introduction 73 3.1.2 Research on Political Membership 79 3.1.3 European migration history, Integration and Citizenship in Europe 83 3.1.4. Political Membership as a Human Right 93 3.1.5 Multiculturalism in the context of a neo-liberal agenda and the role of education 124 3.2 Section 2: Nation building projects in the Swiss context: The Swiss Federal Nation-State and the role of education 129 3.2.1. Introduction 129 3.2.2. Federalism: in and out of Europe 130 3.2.3 Parties and the shift from cleavage to reconciliation 138 Chapter 4: Swiss Education Reform 141 4.1 The ‘Problematisation’ of the Migrant student in Swiss Research. 141 4.1.1 Introduction 141 4.1.2 The Swiss School System: recent facts and figures 141 4.1.3 Discussion of Swiss Allocation practices 147 4.2 Swiss education reform policies 151 11 Chapter 5: Integration Discourse and Policy 157 5.1 Introduction 157 5.2 The Arena of Media Discourse for ‘Integration’ 158 5.3. The development of migration policy in Switzerland 173 5.4 The concept of `Integration` according to Federal Policy 182 5.5 The rationale behind the Swiss vernacular in media and policy discourse on migration 189 Chapters 6: Discourses in Interview Narratives 193 6.1 Introduction 193 6.1.1. Structure and Logic of Analysis 193 6.1.2 Methodological aspects on doing Interview narratives 195 6.1.3 Summary of Themes 201 6. 2. An ideological appraisal and pre-existing structures/ ideologies of political membership 208 6. 3. The understanding of `culture 224 6. 4. Special Needs and the dichotomising of students 237 6. 5 Social Class and Mobility/Language 262 6.6 Evidence-based policy and the `soft` governance solution 268 Chapter 7: Discussion 285 7.1 Key concluding points 285 7.2 Restriction and absence of Political Membership in Swiss integration discourse 290 7.2.1 The problematisation of ` the migrant 296 7.2.2 Instrumentalisation and Politicisation of Education 303 7.3 Europeanising trends in policy as a form of deterritorialised politics 305 7.4 Research on membership and resistance to dominant discourses 312 8.
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