"Forms of capital of Copenhagen-based Lithuanian ethnic societies' members"
Author
Mikelionyte, Simona
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2017
Abstract
Afhandlingen undersøger, hvordan medlemmer af to københavnske litauiske etniske organisationer—Lithuanian Youth Society (LYS) og Lithuanian Society (LS)—akkumulerer og udveksler social, kulturel, økonomisk og symbolsk kapital gennem deltagelse i generelle aktiviteter og arrangementer. Med afsæt i Bourdieus kapitalbegreb og Putnams teori om social kapital anvendes en kvalitativ tilgang bestående af 14 semistrukturerede dybdegående interviews, tre deltagerobservationer (gennemført i LYS) samt dokumentanalyse; fraværet af LS‑arrangementer i feltarbejdsperioden (april–juli 2016) blev imødekommet via hjemmeinterviews for at iagttage interaktionelle sammenhænge. Analysen skelner mellem bonding, bridging og linking relationer og belyser deres udbytter. For LYS omfattede deltagelsen adgang til information, job- og boligmuligheder, kompetenceudvikling, kulturel viden og former for symbolsk anerkendelse. For LS omfattede udbyttet kulturel kapital i form af smag og præferencer, symbolsk kapital, informationsdeling, støtte i tilfælde af dødsfald samt andre personlige tjenester; bridging forbindelser drøftes både som krydsetniske og co-etniske. Afhandlingen adresserer også mulige ambivalenser ved stærk bonding social kapital for integration og viser overordnet, hvordan organisatorisk deltagelse kan skabe og konvertere kapitalformer, der har betydning for migranters liv i værtslandet.
This thesis examines how members of two Copenhagen-based Lithuanian ethnic organizations—the Lithuanian Youth Society (LYS) and the Lithuanian Society (LS)—accumulate and exchange social, cultural, economic, and symbolic capital through participation in general activities and events. Guided by Bourdieu’s framework of forms of capital and Putnam’s social capital theory, the study employs a qualitative design comprising 14 semi-structured in-depth interviews, three participant observations (conducted within LYS), and document analysis; the absence of LS events during fieldwork (April–July 2016) was addressed through home interviews to observe interactional contexts. The analysis distinguishes bonding, bridging, and linking ties and explores their outcomes. For LYS, participation was associated with access to information, employment and housing opportunities, skill development, cultural knowledge, and forms of symbolic recognition. For LS, outcomes included cultural capital in tastes and preferences, symbolic capital, information sharing, support in cases of fatality, and other personal favors; bridging ties are discussed as both cross-ethnic and co-ethnic. The thesis also considers potential ambivalences of strong bonding social capital for integration and, overall, shows how organizational participation can generate and convert capitals in ways that matter for migrants’ lives in the host society.
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