Arrangerede kulturmøder og social integration

Katherine Kappa

Arrangerede kulturmøder og social integration

Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies

Abstract

This article investigates English conversation meetings at a grassroots integration initiative which targets improving the life situation of asylum seekers and refugees in Denmark. Contrary to similar initiatives which have been studied from an integration policy evaluation perspective, this study takes an explorative, social interactional approach. The paper gives examples of a common occurrence: specifically, how the volunteers actively seek out shared identities, or co-membership, with the asylum seekers and refugees as language learners. It is argued that this interactional choice highlights the intentional diversity fundamental to organised cultural encounters, seeing as the volunteers seek co-membership as a result of a particular oriented to difference in membership belongings among the participants. Since these English conversation meetings are transient by nature, a focus on managing the differences that are brought up poses a challenge to forming solid relations. With that in mind, the study concludes on a critical note about the staying power of the volunteers’ efforts to find commonalities – can organised cultural encounters such as this one offer more enduring social relations beyond cross-cultural contact and exchange?

Original language	Danish
Journal	Sprogforum
Volume	64
Pages (from-to)	68-76
Number of pages	9
ISSN	0909-9328
Publication status	Published - 2017

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Cite this

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title = "Arrangerede kulturm{\o}der og social integration",

abstract = "This article investigates English conversation meetings at a grassroots integration initiative which targets improving the life situation of asylum seekers and refugees in Denmark. Contrary to similar initiatives which have been studied from an integration policy evaluation perspective, this study takes an explorative, social interactional approach. The paper gives examples of a common occurrence: specifically, how the volunteers actively seek out shared identities, or co-membership, with the asylum seekers and refugees as language learners. It is argued that this interactional choice highlights the intentional diversity fundamental to organised cultural encounters, seeing as the volunteers seek co-membership as a result of a particular oriented to difference in membership belongings among the participants. Since these English conversation meetings are transient by nature, a focus on managing the differences that are brought up poses a challenge to forming solid relations. With that in mind, the study concludes on a critical note about the staying power of the volunteers{\textquoteright} efforts to find commonalities – can organised cultural encounters such as this one offer more enduring social relations beyond cross-cultural contact and exchange?",

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AB - This article investigates English conversation meetings at a grassroots integration initiative which targets improving the life situation of asylum seekers and refugees in Denmark. Contrary to similar initiatives which have been studied from an integration policy evaluation perspective, this study takes an explorative, social interactional approach. The paper gives examples of a common occurrence: specifically, how the volunteers actively seek out shared identities, or co-membership, with the asylum seekers and refugees as language learners. It is argued that this interactional choice highlights the intentional diversity fundamental to organised cultural encounters, seeing as the volunteers seek co-membership as a result of a particular oriented to difference in membership belongings among the participants. Since these English conversation meetings are transient by nature, a focus on managing the differences that are brought up poses a challenge to forming solid relations. With that in mind, the study concludes on a critical note about the staying power of the volunteers’ efforts to find commonalities – can organised cultural encounters such as this one offer more enduring social relations beyond cross-cultural contact and exchange?

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