Staying in the past – The relationship between social Identity and political integration of wellestablished immigrants An interview study about how social identity affects political integration among Turkish immigrants

Abstract

This study aims to provide a deeper knowledge about how we can understand that even wellestablished immigrants fall behind regarding political integration in Sweden. I have examined this topic by concentrating on the theory of social identity and its effects on the political integration of well-established immigrants. I have focused on four different dimension which are nationalism, religiosity, partisanship, and social class. The case that I have chosen is the well-established Turkish immigrants in Gothenburg, Sweden. My results indicates that social identity is an important factor that can both damage and foster political integration, depending on the characteristics of the identity. Religiosity (Muslim identity) has a positive effect, while nationalism (Turkish identity) has been a damaging factor. Partisanship has both positive and negative effects while the role of social class cannot be clarified.