Return to search

Immigrant integration conflicts in Malmö through a development communication lens

In the context of significant numbers of Muslim newcomers immigrating to Europe andperceptions of failed integration in Sweden, and in light of the urban conflict andincreasing debates about integration as a one-way or two-way street, this paper sets out a“communication for development”-informed theoretical framework that focuses on thestruggle for social cohesion and immigrant integration in Malmö, Sweden. The paperuses triangulation to view this challenging situation from various perspectives. Not onlydoes this reveal that unemployment and lack of power have taken their toll on agencyamong migrants—particularly Iraqi men—but also that the strongest stories showingimmigration as an asset—particularly Iraqi women—are not being told in the media.Through the use of empirical material from Malmö, this paper contends that participatorycommunication in Malmö is less than participatory, and that integration in Sweden, in itsexpectations, leans uncomfortably close to assimilation. The paper gives examples ofseveral development communication initiatives for integration that have had positiveresults, with strong evidence that community media, as just one example, has proveneffective at improving immigrant integration. The paper concludes that developmentcommunication initiatives show promise for improving social cohesion in Malmö, andthat these can be effective only if the choice to participate, and the choices of initiative,medium and content are made by the migrants themselves.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:mau-22825
Date January 2010
CreatorsMighton, Lisa
PublisherMalmö högskola, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), Malmö högskola/Kultur och samhälle
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Page generated in 0.0019 seconds