“A Comparative Analysis of Everyday Nationalism in British and German Citizenship Tests”

The conference paper will critically discuss the role of everyday nationalism in citizenship tests in the UK and Germany. Based on the academic debate of the nation at the heart of popular culture (Edensor 2002), national identity and everyday life (Fox-Miller-Idriss 2008), national belonging in the everyday life (Skey 2011) and everyday nationhood (Skey/Antonisch 2017), the paper will empirically explore the role of everyday nationalism in British and German citizenship tests. To what extent is everyday nationalism an important gatekeeper in the politics of inclusion and exclusion within citizenship tests? The paper analyses the importance of everyday life questions in the British and German citizenship tests. Trying to understand what kind of national identity is constructed through these questions and how these questions have changed over the years since the establishment of the British Citizenship test in 2005 and the German Citizenship test in 2008. The paper will provide a comparative analysis and explore how participants do on these everyday life questions in these tests in the UK and Germany. The paper argues that everyday nationalism plays a significant role as a gatekeeper in the politics of inclusion and exclusion within citizenship test.