Building on participant observation in these reception offices, I argue that citizenship stretches beyond the economical and political sphere. Integration has a profoundly moral dimension to it. The reception offices particularly focus on teaching migrants the habitus of a ‘good’ citizen. However, good citizenship behavior is interpreted and explained to newcomers in a different way in practice. Immigrant newcomer’s conduct is thus conducted differently in one city.
What is at stake here is the very identity and sense of self of the two linguistic communities. I contend that their engagement in a continued struggle over the governance of migrants’ conduct is used as a tool to refine the boundaries of belonging between the two communities themselves. In an increasingly cosmopolitan city like Brussels, the promotion of Flemish-ness or a distinctive francophone civic identity becomes a peculiar anomaly that does not stroke with urban reality. This study’s findings not only shed light on the micro processes whereby new moral citizens are produced, but also encourage more research about the importance of sub-national forms of citizenship.
