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Does Antwerp belong to everyone? Unveiling the conditional limits to inclusive urban citizenship
[journal article]
Abstract Recent theoretical discussions have indicated that citizenship is not only a way of being, but also a way of behaving. This article aims to show how attempts to regulate the behaviour of the citizenry can introduce a new topography of inclusion and exclusion, thereby exercising a direct effect on pa... view more
Recent theoretical discussions have indicated that citizenship is not only a way of being, but also a way of behaving. This article aims to show how attempts to regulate the behaviour of the citizenry can introduce a new topography of inclusion and exclusion, thereby exercising a direct effect on particular ethnic minorities. We investigate the issue in Antwerp, the largest city of the Flemish Region in Belgium. With his slogan ‘Antwerp belongs to everyone' former mayor Patrick Janssens gained significant international attention for Antwerp's supposedly inclusive conception of urban citizenship. In this article, we argue that the universality of Antwerp's city slogan has nevertheless veiled the introduction of new exclusionary prescriptions centred around citizens' conduct. Drawing on a Foucauldian account of power, three different modes of policing are discussed that have rearticulated the boundaries of urban citizenship in Antwerp. The disciplinary, bio-political and etho-political techniques of power each show in a different way attempts by the state to steer and effectively regulate what counts as appropriate conduct. As a corollary of governmental power, particular ways of behaving have been labelled as deviant and abnormal, thus rendering full citizenship conditional on a set of substantial expectations on how to perform as a citizen. As these expectations are only apparently neutral with respect to ethnic identities, a tension arose between the city's universal and inclusive rhetoric and its particular and exclusionary policies.... view less
Keywords
urban population; integration; power; rhetoric; civil rights; Foucault, M.; ethnic origin; inclusion; police; Belgium; behavior; identity; town; exclusion
Classification
Sociology of Settlements and Housing, Urban Sociology
Social Problems
Document language
English
Publication Year
2014
Page/Pages
p. 18-28
Journal
Social Inclusion, 2 (2014) 3
Issue topic
Policing ethnicity: between the rhetoric of inclusion and the policies and practices of exclusion
ISSN
2183-2803
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution