Migrant integration has become a pressing policy concern ever since governments perceived an economic, political, and social distance between the migrant groups and native citizens, which resulted...Show moreMigrant integration has become a pressing policy concern ever since governments perceived an economic, political, and social distance between the migrant groups and native citizens, which resulted in a backlash against multicultural approaches. In Western Europe, this has led to a civic integration approach, which aims to hand civic tools to migrants in order to emancipate them to participate within the receiving society. Through integration procedures, courses and contracts the policies aim to establish social inclusion of immigrants. These civic integration policies often share the demand of the adoption of values rooted in liberal, democratic principles but at the same time take on different shapes depending on the political and historical context. While scholars largely agree on the existence and differing shapes of civic integration policies, only few consider it as a form of nationalism. This research interrogates what notions of national identity and the role of immigrants in society are apparent in both civic integration policies as well as related political discourses. Exploring how, in what context, and by whom notions of the Dutch identity and integration are discursively deployed in parliamentary debates, this research aims to shed light on the relationship between liberal values and nationalist narratives. I argue that references to moral universal and liberal principles within the debate of integration policy can be understood as a part of a broader civic nationalist narrative and sometimes shows aspects of cultural nationalism. This thesis considers the distinction between civic and cultural nationalism as ambiguous and illustrates that the intertwinedness of the two concepts can explain the transition from multiculturalism to a rejection of this approach. This research finds that civic and cultural nationalist narratives can coexist.Show less
In the context of the Euromaidan and subsequent unrests leading to a war in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass, this thesis examines the speeches of the country´s president, Petro Poroshenko...Show moreIn the context of the Euromaidan and subsequent unrests leading to a war in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass, this thesis examines the speeches of the country´s president, Petro Poroshenko in the first 6 months of his presidency, the second half of 2014. This paper attempts to provide the answer to the following issues, employing critical discourse analysis as the methodology: it examines which form of nationalism, ethnic or civic, is more prevalent in the speeches. Moreover, it identifies the main themes and evaluates Poroshenko´s nation building mission while providing a chapter on the history of these contested forms of nationalism in Ukraine to offer a wider background of the examined issues. This study concluded that the prevalent form of nationalism is civic nationalism and identified anti-Russian rhetoric, the European path and using the war in Donbass as a means of uniting the people as the main topics. However, Poroshenko´s nation-building is defensive rather than proactive. It is largely based on anti-Russian narrative and the current war, but does not offer a viable and sustainable vision of nation-building in a long run, indicating that president Poroshenko is, like his predecessors, unable to resolve the internal division of Ukraine and create a strong national identity which would likely allow Ukraine to improve its economic and political situation.Show less
