Civil Society and Integration Between Established Habitants and Newly Arrived in Europe

Abstract

The aim of this research is to assess the possibilities in future development of integration in Europe as well as highlighting the importance of civil society in the integration work. The thesis is informed by a postcolonial perspective and a definition of integration as a two-way process, emphasizing the importance of recognition and reciprocity between newly arrived and established habitants. By performing an ethnographic case study of a voluntary organization in Sweden and by assessing European guiding document on integration, the research identifies hinders for integration as a two-way process both within the organization as well as at European level. Hinders for full realisation of integration between established and newly arrived individuals are partly the result of power structures in relation to privileges which in turn is informed by a socioeconomic approach to integration. However, the problem is also a consequence of an underlying Eurocentric perspective on integration which is cementing the divisions between newly arrived and established habitants. Nevertheless, the case study has also identified ways to overcome the assimilative tendencies in Europe and introduce an inter-epistemic approach to integration. By dismantling the socioeconomic roles individuals play in their daily lives more space is given to psychosocial factors which are enabling people to meet on more common grounds and thus, together may easier create integration as a two-way process as defined in EU guiding documents.