Experiencing migration, language policy and citizenship ‘from below’: the case of Luxembourg Joanna Kremer A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Luxembourg Studies Department of Germanic Studies January 2017 Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. v List of abbreviations .......................................................................................................................... vii Chapter One: Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Overview of research on EU and global developments in the fields of citizenship studies, migration studies and language policy........................................................................................... 2 1.2. Luxembourg: a case study ....................................................................................................... 5 1.3. Research aims and structure of thesis ................................................................................... 11 Chapter Two: Research Context....................................................................................................... 15 2.1. Background information on Luxembourg ............................................................................ 15 2.1.1. Historical overview ........................................................................................................ 15 2.1.2. The education system ..................................................................................................... 20 2.1.3. The language situation ................................................................................................... 24 2.1.4. Migration ......................................................................................................................... 28 2.2. Citizenship legislation in Luxembourg ................................................................................ 31 2.2.1. Chronological overview ................................................................................................. 31 2.2.2. Recent legislative changes ............................................................................................. 34 Chapter Three: Theoretical Grounding ............................................................................................ 39 3.1. Globalisation, im-mobility, identity and belonging ............................................................ 39 3.2. Nationhood, language, ethnicity and nationalism................................................................ 48 3.3. Recent developments in citizenship studies ......................................................................... 55 3.4. Discourse, power and ideology ............................................................................................. 64 Chapter Four: Methodology ............................................................................................................. 72 4.1. An overview of quantitative and qualitative methods ......................................................... 72 4.2. Interviews and the recruitment process ................................................................................ 74 4.3. Information on the participants: basic social data ............................................................... 81 4.4. Transcribing and analysing the interview material ............................................................ 86 Chapter Five: Stories of Migration .................................................................................................. 95 5.1. Moving to Luxembourg ......................................................................................................... 95 5.2. What’s in a name? ................................................................................................................ 104 5.3. Constructing the roles and functions of languages in Luxembourg ................................. 111 5.4. Summary ............................................................................................................................... 122 Chapter Six: Language Testing ...................................................................................................... 125 i 6.1. Luxembourgish: (becoming) an endangered language? .................................................... 126 6.2. Language testing: an ‘objective’ and ‘normal’ procedure ................................................. 136 6.3. Language testing: a ‘discriminatory’ and ‘unfair’ procedure ............................................ 143 6.4. Summary ............................................................................................................................... 152 Chapter Seven: Constructing Citizenship ...................................................................................... 155 7.1. Constructing citizenship as an individual responsibility and duty .................................... 156 7. 2. Constructing belonging(s)................................................................................................... 164 7.3. Luxembourgish ‘nationalité’: a tool for exclusion? ........................................................... 169 7.4. Summary ............................................................................................................................... 181 Chapter Eight: Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 183 8.1. Findings relevant to the Luxembourg context .................................................................... 184 8.2. Findings relevant to the European context ......................................................................... 192 8.3. Summary of findings ............................................................................................................ 196 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................... 203 Appendix 1: Information Sheet ....................................................................................................... 219 Appendix 1.1: Information Sheet English.................................................................................. 219 Appendix 1.2: Information Sheet French ................................................................................... 220 Appendix 1.3: Information Sheet German ................................................................................. 221 Appendix 1.4: Information Sheet Luxembourgish .................................................................... 222 Appendix 2: Consent Form ............................................................................................................. 223 Appendix 2.1: Consent Form English ........................................................................................ 223 Appendix 2.2: Consent Form French ......................................................................................... 224 Appendix 2.3: Consent Form German ....................................................................................... 225 Appendix 2.4: Consent Form Luxembourgish .......................................................................... 226 Appendix 3: Interview questionnaires ............................................................................................ 227 Appendix 3.1: Interview questionnaire English ........................................................................ 227 Appendix 3.2: Interview questionnaire French ......................................................................... 231 Appendix 3.3: Interview questionnaire German........................................................................ 235 Appendix 3.4: Interview questionnaire Luxembourgish........................................................... 239 ii Abstract Since the turn of the 21st century, many EU countries have introduced language and/or civics tests in the context of citizenship and migration policy. Recent studies have critically analysed the discursive justifications of these language requirements and/or testing procedures in various EU member-states (Extra et al., 2009, Hogan-Brun et al., 2009). It has also been argued that the scope of language policy should be widened to include research on the experiences of people who are directly affected by formal ‘language policy mechanisms’ (Shohamy, 2009). Moreover, there have been calls for the discursive study of citizenship to broaden its range beyond the aspect of language testing in order to investigate how citizenship is enacted by individuals (Milani, 2015). This thesis responds to these recent trends by focusing on the case study of Luxembourg. In Luxembourg, a new law on ‘la nationalité luxembourgeoise’ (Luxembourgish ‘nationalité’) came into effect in 2009 which stipulates that applicants need to pass a Luxembourgish language test and attend ‘civics’ instruction lessons in order to become citizens. Drawing upon 27 semi-structured interviews conducted with recent applicants for citizenship, this thesis considers three aspects: it first asks