Integration and Capital: A Study of Young Syrians' Ability to Integrate in Denmark
Author
Franck, Julie Grønborg
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2018
Submitted on
2018-01-30
Pages
85
Abstract
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan flygtninge navigerer i integrationen i Danmark, og hvilke forhold der former deres muligheder for at få en vellykket integration. Undersøgelsen bygger på deltagerobservation i Venligboernes sprog-café i Helsingør, hvor flygtninge og danske frivillige mødes ugentligt for at øve dansk, samt på livshistoriske interviews med tre cafédeltagere, som repræsenterer tre trin i integrationsforløbet. Med en fænomenologisk tilgang, der fokuserer på menneskers egne oplevelser og betydninger, sættes deltagernes perspektiver i centrum. Der anvendes en abduktiv strategi, hvor der veksles mellem empirien og teorien; feltarbejdet førte til valget af Ager og Strangs integrationsramme samt Putnams og Bourdieus begreber om kapital. Rammerne bruges til at udforske forskellige dimensioner af integration i relation til former for kapital: økonomisk (penge og materielle ressourcer), kulturel (uddannelse, sprog og færdigheder) og social (netværk og tillid), herunder bonding-relationer i tætte grupper og bridging-relationer, der skaber forbindelser på tværs af grupper. Analysen er placeret i en dansk forståelse af integration, som er formet af velfærdsstatens ideologi. Afhandlingen finder, at de tre kapitalformer opbygges over tid, og at summen af kapital, som flygtninge medbringer fra hjemlandet og udvikler i Danmark, er central for deres integrationsmuligheder. Den viser også, at flygtningenes prioriteringer for integration og fremtid kan afvige fra dansk integrationspolitik: Job og uddannelse ses ofte som springbræt snarere end endemål, mens det overordnede mål er et godt liv.
This thesis examines how refugees navigate integration in Denmark and what shapes their chances of integrating successfully. The study draws on participant observation at Venligboerne’s language café in Helsingør, where refugees and Danish volunteers meet weekly to practice Danish, and on life-history interviews with three café participants who represent three stages of the integration process. Using a phenomenological approach that focuses on people’s own experiences and meanings, the analysis centers the participants’ perspectives. An abductive strategy is used, moving between empirical material and theory; the fieldwork led to the choice of Ager and Strang’s integration framework and Putnam’s and Bourdieu’s concepts of capital. These frameworks are applied to explore dimensions of integration in relation to forms of capital: economic (money and material resources), cultural (education, language, and skills), and social (networks and trust), including bonding ties within close groups and bridging ties that connect to other groups. The analysis is set within the Danish understanding of integration shaped by the welfare-state ideology. The thesis finds that these forms of capital accumulate over time, and that the combination of capital brought from the country of origin and developed in Denmark is central to refugees’ ability to integrate. It also shows that refugees’ priorities for integration and the future can differ from Danish integration policy: employment and education are often viewed as stepping stones rather than end goals, with the broader aim being a good life.
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