Learning to “belong”: processes of inclusion and exclusion in Malta’s migrant integration programme

Abstract

Following the example of many other European countries, Malta recently introduced an integration programme for migrants, called I Belong, which consists of Maltese language and cultural orientation classes. Although nominally aiming to facilitate migrants’ inclusion in Maltese society, completion of the programme is also a requirement for Third-Country Nationals applying for Long-Term Resident status – as such, the programme serves to exclude migrants who do not meet its requirements. This study draws on semi-structured interviews with students and teachers, lesson observations, and curriculum analysis to investigate how the programme enacts this inclusive-exclusion (Turner, 2014). It argues that by 1) fostering their understanding of Maltese society, 2) instilling “shared values”, and 3) assisting migrants in navigating government institutions and public services, the programme makes migrants’ inclusion conditional on them demonstrating their commitment to certain “liberal”, Western values, and their willingness to accept and adapt to Maltese society. Applying Foucault’s notions of governmentality and technologies of self, the study proposes that rather than enforcing these attitudes and behaviours, the programme’s pedagogy assigns migrants an agentic role in co-constructing these subjectivities. While the programme thus exemplifies how disciplinary power both constitutes and is constituted by its subjects, I conclude that its embeddedness in wider integration policy demonstrates how ultimately, sovereign power maintains its power to include/exclude.