This paper has been motivated by discourses on migrants’ social integration, which have become a key policy objective of significant public discussions across Europe. A general trend towards civic integration requirements and stricter policies can be seen in many migrant-receiving societies, through citizenship acquisition rules, integration programmes and education policies (Bobrowska, Gierszewski & Kluzowicz, 2018; Goodman, 2010; Joppke, 2007; Simpson & Whiteside, 2015), which are indicative of what has been called the “civic turn” in Europe (Borevi, Kriegbaum Jensen & Mouritsen, 2017; Breidal, 2017; Mouritsen, Jensen & Larin, 2019; Joppke, 2007).

Accordingly, different models of civic orientation programmes for adult migrants have been established in the Scandinavian countries as part of the settlement process with the aim of a fast transition to education and/or work, and social integration into society (Brochmann et al., 2012; Fejes, Dahlstedt, Olsson & Sandberg, 2018; Hernes et al., 2019). Such models of social integration are not completely new phenomena, but have increased since the 1990s, both in comparative and conceptual perspectives (Goodman, 2010), as well as in their shifting solutions (Borevi, Kriegbaum Jensen & Mouritsen, 2017; Brochmann & Seland, 2010). Civic orientation courses for newly arrived adult migrants were implemented in its current form in Sweden in 2010 and are the responsibility of the municipalities since 2010 (SOU 2010:16; SFS: 2010: 1138).

In this paper we present findings from ethnographic fieldwork in civic orientation courses in a larger Swedish municipality. The data is part of a project entitled “Citizenship and democracy education for adult newly arrived migrants? – A policy-ethnographic study of Civic Orientation in three metropolitan municipalities”. Our overarching research question is formulated as follows: What dominant perspectives, social and cultural values, and norms are apparent in the institutional educational practice?

This paper is the result of an ongoing project in which we use ethnography for understanding how civic orientation for newly arrived adult migrants is discursively negotiated during the educational sessions. We followed courses in both English and Arabic in a larger Swedish municipality. According to the official regulations, these courses should be given in the participants’ mother tongue, so that newly arrived migrants do not miss or misunderstand important information (SOU 2010:16). One of us began by attending civic orientation in situ. However, because of the COVID19-outbreak these courses were moved online in April 2020. Altogether we attended 140 hours’ classes. The change to distance learning happened rather quickly and gave us both methodological advantages and disadvantages. In our ethnographic work we wrote fieldnotes by hand and we mainly took the participant/observer position. Our role as researchers were clear and overt; all the participants were informed about the aims of our project, and gave their informed consent. As participants/observers, we occasionally took part in group discussions when being asked, but tried to interfere as little as possible (cf. Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2018). Analytically, we employ a narrative approach that focuses on the storytelling between the storyteller and the listener and the co-construction of stories between the course participants. Narratives are shaped by ideologies and social agendas (De Fina & Georgakopoulou, 2019, p. 3). Therefore, they are rich epistemological sites in an educational provision like civic orientation, which is implemented locally by the municipality, but on another level, is governed by the state. Educational themes for the content for example are established by the state, but their implementation is negotiated at the local level (cf. Åberg, 2020). In our work we draw on Shenhav’s work on “social narratives”, which can be seen as reflections, perceptions and understanding of society (Shenhav, 2015), as well as on postcolonial thinkers such as Bhabha (1990) and work on “good” and “bad” nationalism (Spencer & Wollman, 2002).

In the data from the civic orientation course for newly arrived adult migrants in Sweden we find discursive themes and narrations about time and space. In relation to time, Swedish history is sequenced in a narration within two overarching periods, the first on “From the ice age to the 19th century” and the second one “From the 19th century to modern times”. This narration builds on a constant move towards “a modern”, “developed” and well-organized nation. The narration is presented quite quickly and is simplified in an almost unbroken movement from ice age to present times, and recognizes no struggles or hindrances on its way towards the “modern” Sweden. Space is outlined through narrations about “here” and “there”, where the Swedish nation is “here” and the newly arrived migrants have come from “there”, where “there” is often understood as different and not so well organized. Thus, there is a strong self-narration of Sweden as a place of modernity, without problems and struggles. It is a simplified narration; it is also a non-empowering story, since the nation already seems as well-organized and well-functioning as it can ever be. The findings are important as education is presented in Swedish policy documents as a tool for the integration of adult migrants; the hope is that adult migrants through civic orientation education will be better prepared for an active social life in the “new” country (Fejes, Dahlstedt, Olsson & Sandberg, 2018; Länsstyrelsen, 2021). In our paper, we complicate such an argument, not least because the newly arrived migrants seem to be invited to an educational narrative performance by the state about the “good, well-organized and modern” nation. Questions such as: “where do I fit in?” or “where am I in this story?” are some questions we raise in relation to our findings.

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