PhD Candidate Noor Jdid to defend her Thesis on 5 February
PhD Candidate Noor Jdid, co-founder of IMER Junior Scholar Network, will be defending her thesis on Friday, 5 February.
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On 5 February聽2021,聽PhD Candidate Noor Jdid will defend her thesis at the University of Bergen. Her thesis is called 鈥溾赌�Taking part in Society the Way I am.鈥� An Exploration of Active Citizenship Norms in Denmark and Norway.鈥�
The term active citizenship is often associated with positive values like relations between neighbours, volunteering and political participation. We know the term from political rhetoric, where it contains an expectation that citizens are supposed to participate in society, for instance as members of organizations or in activities of more a formal character. The term is often referred to in discussions concerning certain population groups, like the poor, immigrants, or people with functional impairments. They are seen as not fulfilling expectations of participation but are instead assumed to be 鈥減assive citizens.鈥�
In her thesis, Jdid explores Norwegian and Danish citizens鈥� understandings of active citizenship and their motivations for civic engagement. Jdid has talked to 123 people in five neighbourhoods in Oslo and Copenhagen. These people are not recruited on the basis of certain categories of identity or a certain understanding of who is 鈥渁ctive鈥� or not. Thus, Jdid captures diverse understandings of active citizenship and how these understandings are formed through both place attachments, life experiences and power relations in the Danish and Norwegian societies.
Two important insights from the study are: 1) Active citizenship is not just a descriptive term; it also has a normative dimension that can contribute to the creation of a moral distinction between the 鈥済ood,鈥� active citizens and the 鈥渓ess good,鈥� passive citizens. 2) These moral distinctions are both challenged and upheld by the interlocutors, who act based on their own experiences, across different arenas for participation, both inside and outside of the framework of the nation state.
The study concludes that a broadening of the term 鈥渁ctive citizenship鈥� can contribute to increased inclusion and empowerment, especially of marginalized groups that make active contributions to society, but outside of organizations. This allows for a broadened understanding of what it means to be a contributing member of society, so that the diversity of ways and arenas in which citizens participate and contribute to society is recognized.
Noor Jdid聽holds a Master of Arts聽in Peace, Development, Security and International Conflict Transformation from the University of Innsbruck, Austria. She has conducted the work on her doctoral thesis at the聽聽and the聽Centre for Women鈥檚 and Gender Research (SKOK),聽University of Bergen. Her main supervisor was聽聽and her co-supervisor was聽Christine M. Jacobsen. Jdid is currently an employee at聽聽Jdid was the co-founder and coordinator of .听
For more information, please see here.听