Språktest för medborgarskap? En postkolonial läsning av debatten kring språktest.
DiscoursePostcolonialismLanguage testIdentityGlobalizationSocial sciencesSamhällsvetenskaperPolitical and administrative sciencesStatsvetenskapFörvaltningskunskapSocial SciencesLaw and Political Science
On the third of August 2002, in the middle of the ongoing Swedish election campaign, Lars Leijonborg beeing the leader of Folkpartiet (the Peoples Party) presented the partys new intergration programme for foreign nationals. One of the proposals was to instigate a language test for all immigrants seeking to obtain Swedish citizenship. This thesis addresses the medial debate that followed the proposal in the daily press. Using discourse analysis and postcolonial theory this thesis looks into the fact that there were not unity in the wake that followed the language test proposal resulting in one medial and one popular discourse. The newspapers investigated were largely negative in their tone, whereas on the opinion pages, the view of the people seemed much more positively inclined. This enstrenghened futher by the election outcome wich was favourable for Folkpartiet. The arguments promoting the proposal can be trailed to the postcolonial theory and a view on the world as beeing centered by Europe, where the discourse is dominated by the thought that the Western World, i e the colonial powers, would be somewhat superior to the rest of the nations and the people living therein.