‘They look into our lips’

Abstract

The British citizenship ceremony marks the legal endpoint of the naturalisation process. While the citizenship ceremony may be a celebration, it can also be a final examination. Using an ethnographically-informed case study, this article follows one candidate, ‘W’, through the naturalisation process in the UK. W is a migrant Yemeni at the end of the naturalisation process. Bakhtin’s notion of “ideological becoming” offers an analytic orientation into how competing discourses may operate. This article focuses on the role of what Bakhtin describes as “authoritative discourse” in the citizenship ceremony, in particular the Oath/Affirmation of Allegiance which citizenship candidates are required to recite. Success in the ceremony is dependent on how individuals negotiate authoritative discourse. This study follows W and highlights the complexities and negotiations of authoritative discourse in a citizenship ceremony.

How the US Oath of Allegiance weakens citizenship, encodes discrimination, and muddies the moment of becoming

“…The judge then engaged in a call-and-response recitation with the naturalisation petitioners. Unlike the British ceremonies described in Khan and Blackledge (2015), no officials were checking the lips of the oath-takers as a final test of English proficiency. In both observed ceremonies, the judges paused at the same moments to let the petitioners repeat after them, indicated by line breaks.…”

The Securitisation of Language Borders and the (Re)production of inequalities

“…Both Khan (2019) and Fortier (2021) have noted the function of this assessment. Khan and Blackledge (2015, 2017) and Khan (2019) note how the recitation appears to be celebratory but also functions as an assessment when the oath is deemed incorrect. This also allows for the possibility of exclusion.…”

Problematika Hak Atas Kewarganegaraan Kehormatan Honorary Citizenship Di Indonesia: Implementasi Dan Dampaknya

“…Sehingga, dalam hal ini kewarganegaraan juga merupakan bentuk dari adanya identitas dan perasaan yang bersifat kolektif. 7 Oleh sebab itu, 1 konsepsi kewarganegaraan dapat dipandang sebagai: (1) hubungan dan status hukum, (2) suatu hak, dan (3) aktifitas politik.…”