In public debates on citizenship, the need for active participation among citizens is increasingly stressed. But do normative ideas of what active citizenship is, reflect people's lived experiences in present-day Scandinavia?

It is widely assumed that the ‘good citizen’ is an active citizen who participates in – and contributes to – his or her society. This assumption is mirrored in public discourse but also in political theory and philosophy. However, who defines the requirements of active citizenship? How are practices and ideals of active citizenship influenced by increased diversity? And to what extent do new civic practices and forms of mobilization impact understandings of ’the good society’?

Active Citizenship Today is the final event of the project Active Citizenship in Culturally and Religiously Diverse Societies. A selection of the project’s main findings will be presented and discussed in exchanges between researchers, policy makers and practitioners. These discussions will center around three themes: 1) Motivations: what inspires active citizenship today? 2) Community: how is a sense of community created through multiple spaces of participation and scales of belonging? 3) Public debate: how is the idea of the ‘good citizen’ represented and contested?

Program

08:30-09:00 Registration

09:00-09:15 Welcome and overview of the ACT project - Cindy Horst, PRIO

09:15-09:45 Keynote: Noor Jdid, PRIO / Centre for Women's and Gender Research (SKOK), UiB

09:45-11:00 Panel 1: Motivations

  • Tore Vincents Olsen, Department of Political Science, Aarhus University
  • Noor Jdid, PRIO / Centre for Women's and Gender Research (SKOK), UiB
  • Idunn Seland, Norwegian Social Research (NOVA), OsloMet
  • Nassima Dzair, InterBridge
  • Ivar Eimhjellen, Uni Research
  • Moderator: Cindy Horst, PRIO

11:00-12:15 Panel 2: Community

  • Kjersti Fjørtoft, Department of Philosophy, UiT
  • Noor Jdid, PRIO / Centre for Women's and Gender Research (SKOK), UiB
  • Lars Laird Iversen, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society
  • Chro Borhan, Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue
  • Moderator: Marta Bivand Erdal, PRIO

12:15-13:15 Lunch

13:15-14:30 Panel 3: Public Debate

  • Jonas Jacobsen, Department of Philosophy, UiT
  • Noor Jdid, PRIO / Centre for Women's and Gender Research (SKOK), UiB
  • Mori Diakite, Landsforeningen mot Rasisme
  • Mona Abdel-Fadil, Department of Media and Communication, UiO
  • Moderator: Per Mouritsen, Department of Political Science, Aarhus University

14:30-15:00 'The good citizen': asserting and contesting norms of participation and belonging - Cindy Horst and Marta Bivand Erdal, PRIO

15:00-15:15 'Aktivistene' - Iffit Qureshi, photojournalist, winner Oslo City art award 2016

15:15-15:30 Closing remarks - Per Mouritsen, Department of Political Science, Aarhus University