This book examines the importance, and potential, of citizenship education, using extensive qualitative data from England and Sweden. The authors draw on the work of Nira Yuval-Davis and other prominent scholars in the field to frame citizenship as membership of numerous communities, for example disability, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and social class. This intersectional approach enables a rich understanding of the experiences and capabilities of young people, and bridges the gap between the formal meaning and real experiences of citizenship. The book presents case studies from England and Sweden, two contexts that have similar societies and school systems but very different approaches to citizenship education. Using this rich data, the authors illuminate the perspectives of young learners and their teachers to understand how learners can uphold their rights and responsibilities as citizens. This book will be of interest and value to scholars of social justice and citizenship education. 

In preparation for our book, due in 2019, we recognise the need for clarity and consistency in understanding terminology and perceptions. We adopt a position within the paradigm of social justice, an essential element of which is to give voice to the powerless and unheard. We therefore focus on young learners in two countries with similar but different environments in order to identify what comes from their common Western structures and how and/or why they diverge. Sweden and England have moved from being driven by a sense of communality in the welfare states to the growth of neoliberal societal individualism. To give voice to those without the resources to deal with the responsibilities imposed by a neoliberal agenda, we must consider the nature of that agenda and of those responsibilities. To clarify citizenship in its real meaning (as opposed to the merely formal) we employ the concept of human capabilities (Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum) rather than human rights. As they both emphasize, the concept of capability is broader than rights. To have capability to do something it is not enough to have a right to it, prerequisites are required to enjoy that right. For example, although everyone has the right to an education51and to a dignified adult life as citizens, many live a life of powerlessness, of political, social and economic exclusion. Sufficient human capabilities are needed to receive the education necessary for citizenship in its real meaning. The three-part categorisation of citizenship proposed by Marshall (1949) provides us with a platform from which to develop insight and comprehension into how identities and belonging limit or enhance people's social citizenship. The intersectional approach as proposed by Yuval Davis (2011) enables us to interrogate such factors which combine, rather than viewing in them in isolation, while Ragin (1987) offers a useful methodological approach for this study.KW: theory, human capabilities, intersectionality, formal/real

The paradigm of social justice gives voice to those without the resources to deal with responsibilities imposed by a neoliberal agenda. The authors focus on pupils in Sweden and England, countries which have moved from a sense of communality to the growth of neoliberal societal individualism. To clarify real citizenship (rather than formal), they apply the concepts of intersectionality and of human capabilities in place of rights, which means that people adhere to numerous simultaneous collectivities and having the capability to do something requires more than an entitlement to it. While everyone might have the right to an education and to a dignified life, many live in powerlessness and in political, social, and economic exclusion. Sufficient human capabilities are required in order to receive the education necessary for citizenship in its real meaning, and the intersectional approach enables interrogation of factors that coalesce, rather than viewing in them in isolation.

The purpose of this article is to examine and compare how the ethnicity, gender and social class conditions of citizenship influence, and are understood by, teachers and secondary school students in England and Sweden. The intention is also to compare how conditions of citizenship are dealt with in social studies for upper secondary school in England and Sweden. The relationship between students education and real conditions for citizenship is complex and partly differs between, as well as within, the two countries. The present comparative examination and analysis aims to visualize both specific and common conditions of citizenship in England and Sweden. This is to draw attention to how the meaning of frequently used terminology and images in the field of Citizenship Education do not always coincide with teachers’ and students’ own opinions and perceived meanings. By doing this we hope to contribute some new knowledge regarding one of the most difficult challenges that citizenship education is struggling with, whether the provided knowledge and values prepare todays youth to defend and develop future democratic and just societies. To achieve this, we have conducted a number of interviews with teachers and secondary school students and asked them about their experiences and opinions regarding Citizenship Education and the nature of citizenship. The following main questions were central to the interviews:

• What knowledge and skills does a citizen need in a democracy and how is the meaning of citizenship connected to gender, class and ethnicity?
• How are personal liberties affected by the citizen’s gender, class and ethnicity according to the respondents?
• What are teachers’ and students’ experiences of Citizenship Education and how does school pay attention to citizens´ conditions based on gender, class and ethnicity?

In recent years, both public debate and published research have shown that, in order to understand the real meanings of citizenship, it is necessary to understand and interpret formal citizenship rights and responsibilities from individuals’ social and cultural conditions as characterised by gender, ethnicity and social class. During the 2000s, the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket) presented recurrent reports that shows how socio-economic background, in combination with foreign background, are crucial for pupils school results. The reports also show how segregation between schools and residential areas has increased on the basis of residents socio-economic and ethnic background. This group of students are a part of tomorrows citizens, which are also likely to remain marginalized even as adults. The links between Swedish school policy, pupils school results and the democratic development of society at large has been observed and analysed in contemporary Swedish research.

In England, the picture is slightly different with the 7 per cent of the population who experience private education being over-represented in positions of power and influence. In May 2012, the then Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove provided a list of leaders in the arts, sciences, politics, sports, journalism, entertainment and other fields who had all been to independent schools, concluding that

“the sheer scale, the breadth and the depth, of private school dominance of our society points to a deep problem in our country  . . .  Those who are born poor are more likely to stay poor and those who inherit privilege are more likely to pass on privilege in England than in any comparable county.”

There is significant evidence that socio-economic background, in combination with ethnic background, continue to be highly influential on pupils school results. Links between national education policy, social class and pupils school results appear to remain entrenched in England. 

When we identify cultural and social conditions as in any way hindering the status of citizenship, we do so from a perspective which does not seek to blame the less powerful for holding particular cultural perceptions but which recognises the barriers a dominant culture sets against those with less power. The insight that tells us it is necessary to comprehend individuals’ social and cultural conditions in order to understand and interpret their formal citizenship rights and responsibilities is not, however, particularly recent. Marx wrote over 160 years ago that, “if you assume a particular civil society . . . you will get particular political conditions”, from which it must follow that any society divided on the grounds of class, ethnicity and gender will present political conditions which reflect such divisions. It is also the case that there is likely to be a significant space between what is (the real) and what is perceived (the formal); just because there is inequality it does not follow that everyone is aware of that inequality.

What are the gender, class and ethnicity of citizenship? At theoretical approach to a comparative study on citizenship education in England and Sweden. The paper aims to present a theoretical approach that visualize how gender, class and ethnicity affect the real meaning of citizenship, as well as civic education, in the UK and Sweden. The theoretical approach is applied to empirical data (in Swedish and English school) based on three levels as they are presented by Yuval-Davis (2011): First; social locations, second; peoples' identifications and attachments to various collectivities, and thirdly; ethical and political values with which people judge their own and others' belonging/s. Recent research and debate in both countries show how gender, class and ethnicity have great influence on students’ conditions and results at school, which generally has shown to also have a significant impact on youngsters future prospects as adult citizens. According to this intersectional approach, the aspects of gender, class and ethnicity should not primarily be seen as perspectives of social differences in an additive way. Instead, the three aspects, depending on the specific empirical context, interact mutually to constitute the conditions that affect people differently. The purpose of the on-going project is to examine and compare how the ethnicity, gender and social class conditions of citizenship influence on, and are understood by, teachers and secondary school students in England and Sweden. The intention is also to compare how conditions of citizenship are dealt with in social studies for upper secondary school in England and Sweden. The relationship between students' education and real conditions for citizenship is complex and partly differs between, as well as within, the two countries. The present comparative examination and analysis aim to visualize both specific and common conditions of citizenship in England and Sweden.

I kapitlet ”Vad har en samhällsmedborgare för genus, klass och kön” redogör Laila Nielsen för hur den svenska skolan har utvecklat uppdraget att rusta eleverna med medborgerliga kompetenser under 1900-talet och fram tills idag. Nielsen diskuterar medborgarundervisningens mål och riktlinjer i relation till elevernas reella villkor inför vuxenlivet som samhällsmedborgare med fokus på betydelsen av elevernas genus, klass och etnicitet.

This paper explores how the image of the citizen emerges in current used textbooks of social sciences for Swedish students in upper secondary school. From the schools’ governing documents, it appears that the Swedish school system has the responsibility to prepare students for democratic citizenship. Policy documents presents a picture of "the abstract learner" who through the “right” knowledge and skills shall be prepared for a future democratic citizenship as adults. Hereby, citizenship appears as a state to be achieved in which the student is abstracted from their contexts of ethnicity, gender and social class. In the light of recent years' socio-economic and political changes in Sweden, earlier research has shown that such social ties do have a significant impact on the extent to which students succeed in school. Given this inconsistency between directives of the school's governing documents and the increasing importance of students' social context, it is interesting to examine how the image of citizen from the perspective of ethnicity, gender and class emerges in the school textbooks of social studies. Despite the growing importance of new technologies and alternative teaching methods, the textbook retains a central role for the content of teaching in Swedish schools. The issues of democracy and citizenship are today also prominent in a European context. To draw attention to the relationship between national and European notions of citizenship is an additional objective of the study to present a contribution to compare the image of the Swedish citizen with the image of the English citizen and of the Spanish citizen.