Civic Integration through Commissioned Communities: On the Cross-Sector Co-Production of Conditioned and Clientised Participation

Policymakers across Western welfare states increasingly make full citizenship contingent on refugees adapting to liberal democratic values and practising active citizenship. Simultaneously, the New Public Governance paradigm has reinvigorated policymakers’ belief in civil society as a needed partner...

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Main Authors: Ane Grubb, Kathrine Vitus
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Helsinki University Press 2022-09-01
Series:Nordic Journal of Migration Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journal-njmr.org/articles/421
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author Ane Grubb
Kathrine Vitus
author_facet Ane Grubb
Kathrine Vitus
author_sort Ane Grubb
collection DOAJ
description Policymakers across Western welfare states increasingly make full citizenship contingent on refugees adapting to liberal democratic values and practising active citizenship. Simultaneously, the New Public Governance paradigm has reinvigorated policymakers’ belief in civil society as a needed partner for tackling societal challenges, such as integration. Consequently, cross-sector co-production of civic communities is being perceived as a model for increasing the participation and integration of refugees. The practices and outcomes of cross-sector co-produced integration remain underexplored. Based on a three-year qualitative study of four cross-sector integration projects in a Danish municipality, this paper contributes knowledge on the matter. We explore how volunteers and municipal agents practise the co-production of civic communities to enhance participation among refugees. We find that a recurrent way of co-producing communities is through public agents commissioning communities from voluntary organisations. Next, we identify two recurrent forms of participation available to refugees through the commissioned communities. In the first form, termed conditioned participation, the commissioning of communities is characterised by inter-sectorial distance and knowledge gaps, making participation conditioned on the resources of each refugee. In the second form, termed clientised participation, the inter-sectorial collaboration resembles a commissioner/service-provider relation, with refugees as clients being referred to voluntary services.
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spelling doaj.art-2d60f05fed974bf292eea259a7eecae32022-12-22T03:30:49ZengHelsinki University PressNordic Journal of Migration Research1799-649X2022-09-0112310.33134/njmr.421405Civic Integration through Commissioned Communities: On the Cross-Sector Co-Production of Conditioned and Clientised ParticipationAne Grubb0Kathrine Vitus1Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Work, Aalborg University, CopenhagenAssociate Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Work, Aalborg University, CopenhagenPolicymakers across Western welfare states increasingly make full citizenship contingent on refugees adapting to liberal democratic values and practising active citizenship. Simultaneously, the New Public Governance paradigm has reinvigorated policymakers’ belief in civil society as a needed partner for tackling societal challenges, such as integration. Consequently, cross-sector co-production of civic communities is being perceived as a model for increasing the participation and integration of refugees. The practices and outcomes of cross-sector co-produced integration remain underexplored. Based on a three-year qualitative study of four cross-sector integration projects in a Danish municipality, this paper contributes knowledge on the matter. We explore how volunteers and municipal agents practise the co-production of civic communities to enhance participation among refugees. We find that a recurrent way of co-producing communities is through public agents commissioning communities from voluntary organisations. Next, we identify two recurrent forms of participation available to refugees through the commissioned communities. In the first form, termed conditioned participation, the commissioning of communities is characterised by inter-sectorial distance and knowledge gaps, making participation conditioned on the resources of each refugee. In the second form, termed clientised participation, the inter-sectorial collaboration resembles a commissioner/service-provider relation, with refugees as clients being referred to voluntary services.https://journal-njmr.org/articles/421civic integrationcross-sector co-productionrefugeesvolunteersethnography
spellingShingle Ane Grubb
Kathrine Vitus
Civic Integration through Commissioned Communities: On the Cross-Sector Co-Production of Conditioned and Clientised Participation
Nordic Journal of Migration Research
civic integration
cross-sector co-production
refugees
volunteers
ethnography
title Civic Integration through Commissioned Communities: On the Cross-Sector Co-Production of Conditioned and Clientised Participation
title_full Civic Integration through Commissioned Communities: On the Cross-Sector Co-Production of Conditioned and Clientised Participation
title_fullStr Civic Integration through Commissioned Communities: On the Cross-Sector Co-Production of Conditioned and Clientised Participation
title_full_unstemmed Civic Integration through Commissioned Communities: On the Cross-Sector Co-Production of Conditioned and Clientised Participation
title_short Civic Integration through Commissioned Communities: On the Cross-Sector Co-Production of Conditioned and Clientised Participation
title_sort civic integration through commissioned communities on the cross sector co production of conditioned and clientised participation
topic civic integration
cross-sector co-production
refugees
volunteers
ethnography
url https://journal-njmr.org/articles/421
work_keys_str_mv AT anegrubb civicintegrationthroughcommissionedcommunitiesonthecrosssectorcoproductionofconditionedandclientisedparticipation
AT kathrinevitus civicintegrationthroughcommissionedcommunitiesonthecrosssectorcoproductionofconditionedandclientisedparticipation