PROFACITY

Profane citizenship in Europe - Testing democratic ownership in hybrid situations

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'By concentrating on hybrid, not strictly normative social situations, we consider how people experiment with novel forms of citizenship that modify the outlines of formal citizenship. Such forms of citizenship imply practical activities connected to existing set-ups or milieus, and what is at stake is the continuous invention of the democratic principle itself, i.e. the « right to rights ». The task at hand is to affirm and implement the « right to the city », not immediately conceded, that we call profane citizenship, and that we intend to use as a means of analyzing democratic ownership. Our research program aims to examine in what ways the practices of actors who find themselves in situations where they have to make do with their faults, handicaps, lack of resources, are taken (or not) into account as alternatives to juridical citizenship. We will focus on “milieus of translation” gathering the “have-some” people acting in solidarity networks. Three interconnected fields are concerned (languages and codes, proofs of identity, tests of urbanity), leading to qualitative surveys whose materials and first results will be submitted with sensing methodology to professional and institutional representatives. This in turn will lead us to reconsider the notion of profane citizenship with an eye to the recent transformations of democracy in various national frameworks, by concentrating not only on the juridical concepts of citizenship, but also on its sociological configurations. The theoretical and experimental contribution expected from this research project aims to develop the notion of profane citizenship, showing how it allows, in situations of delicate or relative balance, to take into account, according to the different national and democratic political cultures, both the uniqueness of the personal actions they imply and the political ontology involved thereby.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

How do people experiment with novel forms of citizenship? Using hybrid rather than strictly normative social situations and focusing on how individuals overcome the challenges of legal citizenship, PROFACITY termed this experimentation 'profane citizenship'.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Research on the daily activities of those living in the European community shows that access to spaces where action and recognition are possible is quite restrictively dependent on social, national and ethnic criteria. The principles of European citizenship expounded by the Lisbon Strategy (related to employment, social integration and participation in the knowledge society) have yet to become a reality. As such, there are still major hurdles to overcome in the formal framework of legal citizenship.

The EU-funded 'Profane citizenship in Europe - Testing democratic ownership in hybrid situations' (PROFACITY) project used the concept of profane citizenship as an analyser of democratic ownership. More particularly, researchers investigated if and how the practices of actors in situations where they had to make do with their faults, handicaps and lack of resources were considered as alternatives to legal citizenship.

Advances were made at the theoretical level, enriching the concept of democratic ownership. This enables a revised approach when considering changing and dynamic transformations of the content of citizenship in the European context.

Project partners conducted qualitative surveys in three overlapping research domains: languages and codes, attestations of identity, and tests of urbanity. Issues addressed included 'The right to be there' and 'The right to have rights'.

Through fieldwork and a review of each research domain, researchers confirmed that experiments with novel forms of citizenship take place in very specific contexts. This is due to the important role played by both historical backgrounds and national particularities of the domains.

Scientific results were presented on interpretations of profane citizenship, and on the development of various models of the concept (dynamic, historic, performative and interpretative). Additionally, researchers advanced knowledge on profane citizenship and translation milieus.

Consortium members produced a number of joint publications, as well as a book, 'Testing and sensing profane citizenship in Europe', available in both English and French. Employing the concept of profane citizenship opens up a number of possibilities and allows for new approaches in handling pressing issues of citizenship. Research findings and project work in general have potential policy implications, supporting new constructions of citizenship and the establishment of so-called translation milieus to empower the actors concerned. Another area concerns the methods ('sensing') used to boost research, taking into account those less visible actions contributing to new forms of citizenship.