The interplay of Cultural, Symbolic and Social Capital
- the life story of some Young People in Sweden
Alban Jashari
International Migration and Ethnic Relations Master's (Two-Year) Thesis 30 Credits Spring Semester 2020: IM639L-GP766 Supervisor: Margareta Popoola Examiner: Jason Tucker Word count: 21 172
Abstract
Author: Alban Jashari
Title: "The interplay of cultural, symbolic and social capital" – The life story of some young people in Sweden
Supervisor: Margareta Popoola Examiner: Jason Tucker
The aim of this study is to explore the experiences of some young adults that have grown up in two Millionprogramme neighbourhoods of Malmö. The study is based on eleven semi-structured interviews with five young women and six young men revolving around friends, family, education, and work. The study uses the concept of social capital in analysing the informant's experiences. The paper considers various theories on social capital, but pays a closer attention on the interplay of different forms of capital as explained by Pierre Bourdieu. Hence, looking closely at the social, cultural and symbolic resources as forms of 'capital' and their convertibility into other resources, the study acknowledges the interplay between all forms of capital enabling advantage or overcoming disadvantages. It shows that both symbolic and cultural capital has a strong impact on the building of social networks. Cultural capital, manifesting itself in different ways; way of thinking, behaving, taste of music or clothes, way of speaking etc, – depending on its symbolic value in a society – may enable or hinder groups of people to advantage or overcoming disadvantage.
Word count: 181
Key words: social capital, cultural capital, symbolic capital, habitus, young adults, humor, Kroksbäck, Holma, Malmö, Millionprogramme, multicultural neighbourhoods, ethnicity and class.
Tables of index
1 Introduction...7
1.1 Aim and research questions...8
1.2 Delimitation and limitation considerations...8
2 Contextual background and some facts about Holma-Kroksbäck...9
2.1 The remaining outline of the thesis...11
3 Literature overview...13
4 Theory...17
4.1 Networks and resources...17
4.2 The interaction of symbolic, cultural and social capital – Bourdieu’s model...19
4.2.1 Strategies of condensation...19
4.2.2 Symbolic capital vs symbolic violence...20
4.2.3 Cultural capital and habitus...20
4.2.4 Hybridizing habitus?...21
4.2.5 Taste...21
4.2.6 My bourdieuian interpretation of humour...22
4.3 The utility of humour...22
4.4 Class - and it's differences in the taste of humour...23
5 Methodology...25 5.1 Choice of method...25 5.2 My role as a researcher...26 5.3 Inductive reasoning...26 5.4 Gathering Data...26 5.5 Analysing Data...27 5.6 Ethical considerations...28
5.7 Validity and Reliability...29
6 Result and analysis...31
6.1 A presentation of the informants...31
6.2 “Everyone was friends and it was really fun”...33
6.2.1 “We `click´. We can talk about anything.”...34
6.2.2 “Here in Holma, it's like you are locked”...36
6.3 “You start to see it from a different perspective”...37
6.3.1 Schools making a ”difference”...39
6.4 ”The Refuge of the Swedes”...41
6.5 Public funded bridging links...43
6.6 In search of resource-rich networks...45
6.7 “We didn't share same interets or same jokes”...48
6.7.1 Reinventing Habitus?...51
7 Discussion and conclusion...53
Preface
Now and then I wondered what impact the moving of me and my family from place to place, have had on my social life. My journey started when I was eleven years old, fleeing from atrocities together with my family, away from my then turbulent homeland Kosova up north to the unknown Sweden (a country I had almost no knowledge about at that time). Once in Sweden, in refugee camps and different schools in different cities across Sweden, I got to know many other children I would call my best friends. However, most of those friends were sent back to their homelands or moved to different cities in Sweden. Me and my family, moved to Malmö after the residency permit. Having finally established myself in the city of Malmö, questions like 'How come some people understands me easier and some not?' or 'What do I have in common with my friends?' have pondered me a lot through life. It's actually a topic that is discussed a lot in many of my social circles. In the beginning of my residency in Sweden, it was very clear to me that my Albanian ethnicity (the language and the dramatic history of Albanians from Kosova) was one of the most important criteria into connecting with others. Whilst visiting my homeland years after, I came across differences. I did, of course, have a lot in common with people there, but most didn't understand what it meant to have fled the home country; being exposed to different values or ways of behaving, which were alien and sometimes even contradicting to my beliefs. It could be as simple as the differences in the way you greet someone (shaking hands, hugging or simply just saying hello?). In other words, fellowship wasn't an easy definition anymore. Having a migration background has indeed been a specific life experience. For me, being a migrant was and still is an experience which have led to many close friendships with people whom I would probably never get to know otherwise. But, on the other hand, there are many other qualifications, regardless of migration background, determining my social network. I've got friends I love making music with, friends I do sports with, people I share same political views, or as simple as friends that I just love having a good laugh with.
The idea of conducting a study on young people's social capital in Holma and Kroksbäck during the summer of 2014 would not have become what it became today without the guidance and motivation I received from Per-Olof Hallin at Urbana Studier in Malmö University. I want to thank all of the respondents for their willingness and openness in sharing their stories with me. I would like to thank Aktivitetshuset in Holma for letting me conduct several interviews on their premises and for their great contribution in finding and contacting many of the respondents. I am specifically grateful for having a supervisor like Margareta Popoola, for her motivation, her good advices and her patience throughout this journey.
Finally, I want to thank my parents, Musa and Sala, my fiancée, Albana, and all my friends for all good discussions on the topic, for believing in me and for their emotional support to the end. Thank you Johan, for your time to comment on this thesis.
Malmö August 2020 Alban Jashari
1 Introduction
Statistics from Malmö Municipalitiy's official webpage show that one-third of Malmö's population have been born in another country and that there are 184 different ethnicities living in Malmö1,
certainly having an impact on its economic, social and cultural life. There's, however, different debates on whether ethnic diversity contributes to a positive or negative outcome in a cosmopolitan city. Roughly put, – in the positive outcome – diversity in a city could lead to the so called 'creative cities' (Wood and Landry 2008) where newcomers or migrants can 'enrich and stimulate creativity by creating hybrids, crossovers and boundary blurring' (2008:37). Creativity, however, may happen only when there's a great mix of residents and in fragmented places, whilst certainly not in marginalized places. In the negative case – it is presumed that rapid changes of residents can though destabilize communities (ibid.). What about the diversity in Malmö and its multiethnic areas which I focus on in this thesis? And more specifically, what about the young adults growing up in multiethnic areas of Malmö?
Being a young adult with a migration background and having been grown up in `Millionprogramme multiethnic suburbs´2 in Sweden is paid specific attention by a great amount of research. Research
upon young adults growing up in 'Millionprogramme suburbs' in Sweden, show that the social networks of young adults growing up in Millionprogramme areas are much more complex and astereotypical than those of their own migrant parents' networks. The parents network usually being more ethnically homogeneous, whilst the networks of the young adults being very ethnically and religiously cross-bridging. By growing up in `Millionprogramme multiethnic suburbs´ and being in contact with people from every corner of this planet on a daily basis, these young adults have evolved an ability to extend their social networks, not only by mixing the cultures of their parents' with that of the Swedish majority society but also incorporating a dozens of other cultures and languages they are in contact with on a daily routine (Borgström 1998, Bunar 2001b, Sernhede 2002).
When studying networks of people, but also minority and majority relations, the concept of social capital is very common. Robert D. Putnam for example, uses the concept to map different characteristics or structures of networks and its different advantages or disadvantages (2000). The concept has also been used when addressing inequalities in a society. In this thesis, apart from trying to identify the different characteristics of the social networks, I will also try to highlight those different circumstances that might have had an impact in shaping the social networks of the young adults. Therefore, drawing on Bourdieu's different forms of capital, the social, the cultural and the
1 malmo.se (2019)
symbolic capital; by looking at an individuals positioning in social space, the resources of an individual or a social group, and their cultural competence, one might get a broader insight into different processes being at work when network building. The different forms of 'capital' can help in getting a closer look at those different subtle processes which are at work; for some people, leading to advantage, whilst for some others, leading to disadvantage.
1.1 Aim and research questions
The aim of this study is to explore the social capital of young adults living in `multiethnic suburbs ´in Sweden. The study is limited to two areas, Kroksbäck and Holma, both parts of Million-programme areas located in Hyllie which is part of the district Väster Malmö in Malmö. The research questions with focus on the young adults from Holma and Kroksbäck are formulated as follows:
What has been the most positive, and negative experiences about growing up in the focused areas?
Does ethnicity play a role for boundaries of friendship, and if so in what way?
How are these young adults participating in the neighborhood of residence, and in the wider Swedish society as well?
1.2 Delimitation and limitation considerations
The interviewing process of this study is limited to a six-month period during 2014. It is delimited at focusing on young adults between 17 to 30 years old of whom have grown up in two `Millionprogramme areas´ in Malmö. The reason for the age restrictions was partly due to my expectations on that the informants needed to have a reasonably fresh memory of their young years growing up in these two neighbourhoods. The variation of the young adults' ethnic background was though not a conscious choice I made, but happened randomly, partly because of the previous contacts I personally had in the area, but also because of the contribution of social workers in finding young adult informants in the area. On the other hand, I consciously tried to balance the number of the informants regarding gender and the result of it became five female and six male informants. I will therefore be very careful in drawing generalized conclusions. Nevertheless, the study may still be beneficial for applying on similar multicultural areas, both in and outside Sweden.
2 Contextual background and some facts about Holma-Kroksbäck
Understanding the context and the circumstances in which these eleven young adults grew up, I find it necessary to present some brief facts on Holma and Kroksbäck, but also some historical concepts and representations with regard to Millionprogramme neighbourhoods such as Holma and Kroksbäck.
The Millionprogramme areas in Sweden were built throughout the country between 1964-1972, launched as a political program with the aim of solving the housing shortage in Sweden. These areas would envision the future and the modern life in Sweden. But as migration increased in Sweden, and these areas attracted more migrants, they came to be seen as “exotic” or sometimes as a ¨danger¨ (Ericsson et al 2002, Hallin et al 2010:13). Therewith, the images of the Millionprogramme areas became closely linked to the migrants living there (Sernhede 2002), or as Lalander and Johansson (2007) put it; the migrants were pictured as ”the others”, and the Millionprogramme areas were places where ”these others” lived. These neighbourhoods have thus at times also been referred to as `Multicultural neighbourhoods´, highlighting their ethnic and religious diversity. Similarly, and not seldomly they've also been referred to as `Förorter´ (which literally means Suburbs) by the media. `Förorter´ (in Swedish) or Suburbs (in English) alludes though not to all Millionprogramme areas (e.g. wealthy Millionprogramme areas), but to those Millionprogramme areas with a mixture of socio-economically disadvantage, usually in the major cities of Sweden, to the rental apartments inside these areas (not the condominiums), usually highrise buildings, and also more often to those with a majority percentage of residents with migration background. Denominations like `The projects´ in the United States or `Banlieu´ in France are the closest corresponding discourses (however, not totally the same) that can give us a hint on how the term `Förorter´ is used in Sweden (Hallin et al 2010). Nevertheless, I will in this thesis refer to these specific neighbourhoods as `multiethnic suburbs´ of Millionprogramme areas. In short, the term `multiethnic´ giving prominence to the ethnic composition, whilst the term `Suburb´ (Förort) revealing the medial deployment on these neighbourhoods.
Holma and Kroksbäck are two neighbourhoods in Malmö belonging to the district of Hyllie, in the district area West Malmö (Malmö Väster). Holma and Kroksbäck are linked to each other through Kroksbäcksparken, a park of 26 hectares, dividing Holma and Kroksbäck and creating a distance between the two neighbourhoods which in turn affects the social contact of the two neighbourhoods. Nevertheless, the two neighbourhoods have still much in common. They have both been part of the Malmö Municipality's five year investment, from 2010 to 2015, called The area programs for socially sustainable development in Malmö (Områdesprogrammen för socialt hållbar utveckling i Malmö). The investment prioritized five areas of Malmö, Holma/Kroksbäck in Hyllie,
Herrgården in Rosengård, Södra Sofielund/Seved in Sofielund, Lindängen in Fosie, and Segevång in Kirseberg. The main aim of the investment was to to improve the living conditions, increase safety and create more jobs in the areas in Malmö where the welfare was the lowest (Stadsbyggnadsnämnden 2016:11).
Both Holma and Kroksbäck have a large proportion of young people in comparison to the majority of neighbourhoods in Sweden. According to statistics from 2011, the population of Holma was approximately 4000, with 38% under the age of 25. It is also a neighbourhood in Sweden, where 75% of its population have a migration background, with 54% of its population born outside of Sweden and another 21% having both of their parents born outside of Sweden (Malmö Stad 2011). Statistics from 2009 show that the employment (förvärvsarbete3) rate in Holma is 53%. In
Kroksbäck lives approximately 4500 people, whereas 35% of its populations are under the age of 25. The percentage of people with migration background in Kroksbäck is 52%. The employment rate in Kroksbäck is 58%. The major migrant groups living in Holma and Kroksbäck are with backgrounds from former Yugoslavia (e.g. Kosova, Macedonia, Bosnia and Hercegovina), Afghanistan, Iraq (Kurdistan) and Lebanon (ibid.).
There are 17 youth recreation centres (fritidsgård4) and dozens of different meeting points
targeting young people spread throughout the city of Malmö. In the official webpage of the city of Malmö, there are a couple of meeting points for young adults being active in Holma and Kroksbäck. Among them is Aktivitetshuset (Youth recreation centre) in Holma, available for young people between 6 to 18 years old. Lyktan (Youth recreation centre) in Kroksbäck is only available for children between 4 and 6 years old. Again, in Kroksbäck there's the association Flamman (a social prevention centre), functioning in similar ways as a Youth recreation centre. It has two meeting points, Flamman Ungdomarnas Hus and Flamman Girls Only. Both of these meeting points reach out to young people at the age of 6 up to 24 years (malmo.se n.d., 2019).
3 Förvärvsarbete corresponds to the International Labour Organization's (ILO) de finition of employment. Persons with a salary
income higher than the threshold value are assumed to be employed (ww.scb.se, 2020).
4 Fritidsgård or youth recreation centre is a meeting place for young people, where leisure activities are held and are paid for
by public funds. It is often thought that there will be some form of organized leisure activities that are often led by leisure leaders (www.ne.se, 2020).
2.1 The remaining outline of the thesis
In chapter 3, I will present some relevant studies on social capital, `multicultural neighbourhoods´ and migrants in Sweden (but not only). In chapter 4, the theoretical concepts used in this thesis will be discussed, whilst paying a closer attention to Bourdieu's different forms of social capital. In chapter 5, the methodological considerations will be explained. In chapter 6, there will be a short presentation of the informants in this study and thereafter I will put forward the result and the analysis of the empirical material. In chapter 7, I will finally have a closing discussion on the interplay between social, cultural and symbolic capital.
3 Literature overview
In my search for relevant literature on the topics of social capital, young people with migration background, “multicultural” neighbourhoods, and minority and majority relations, various relevant research articles came up.
Pieter Bevelander's and Ravi Pendakur's (2011) study of social capital and integration in Canada, focuses on the characteristics of two different kinds of networks, based namely on Putnam's division of weak and strong ties (see page 14). Bevelander and Pendakur argue that the more resourceful the strong-ties are within one's network, the more “favourable” weak-ties are created inside one's own social networks. They do agree with Putnam that weak-ties can benefit individuals in areas such as labour market, but claim on the other hand, that it is precisely the strong-ties, depending on their resource strength, that are the largest contributor to information availability in everyday life. They also note that minority groups in Canada have greater interaction with other groups than the majority population, and that both bonding and bridging dimensions of social capital increase in line with diversity. Bevelander and Pendakur also directs criticism towards research claiming a decrease in trust and cooperation among multicultural areas. Decrease in trust and cooperation occurs not because of the high diversity in itself, but rather on how diversity is perceived amongst the participants. Bevelander and Pendakur (2011) point out that stigmatization, “otherizing” and experiences of intimidation directed against a diverse community can have a negative effect on trust and cooperation.
Speaking of perceptions on diversity, the Swedish sociologist Ove Sernhede (2002), writing about the multicultural neighbourhoods in Sweden, also directs criticism against research claiming that multicultural neighbourhoods are socially unstable places due to lack of solidarity and community among its residents. Sernhede points out that the lack of solidarity may best describe the case of older people living in the multicultural neighbourhoods, but not when one looks at the young people. In his book Alienation is my nation: Hip Hop och unga mäns utanförskap (2002) which is a study on young people living in multicultural areas in Gothenburg built in the era of Millionprogramme, he strongly argues that the networks of these young people are very ethnically diverse and cross-bridging. According to Sernhede, these young people share a strong empathy for each other, regardless of religion and ethnicity, and therefore also have broad, cosmopolitan business environment relations. Despite this, Sernhede (2008) highlights the impact that the territorial stigmatization can have on e.g. people's self-image and thereby also on their participation in the society and even on the relationship between people. In a very metaphorical way, Sernhede picturizes the territorial stigma having similar penetrating strength as a combat gas, infiltrating both the culture and behaviour of institutions and also the people exposed to it (ibid.).
Another relevant article on social capital called Migrant Networks and Beyond: Exploring the value of the notion of social capital for Making Sense of ethnic inequalities based (2010), is a
study conducted in Malmö. Based on several life-story interviews, Maja Cederbeg highlights the effects of the interaction between social and cultural capital by using Bourdieu's concept of capital. The focus of the study lies on the relationship between the migrants in Malmö and the majority society in Sweden, "the Swedes". Her conclusion is that inequalities in the social capital emerge as a result of inequalities and hierarchies in resources, with the financial one being at the core. And here is how Cederberg demonstrates this inequality; in order to maintain this kind of inequality and hierarchy of resources, she explains that the dominant majority society uses various mechanisms of excluding the migrants. For example, migrant groups are "otherized", racialized and/or at worst discriminated in order to get excluded. These excluding mechanisms, Cederberg argues, help the majority society to maintain its superiority in the society and thereby its exclusive access to different resources. These processes of exclusion, can at its best, simply demotivate "migrants" to mobilize and achieve success in their social network building. Other worse scenarios can arise where the migrants actually make an effort to mobilize and achieve success, but they are simply not allowed to access other networks. To put it simply, the excluding mechanisms make it very difficult for migrants to gain an advantage. In her study, Cederberg demonstrates this by presenting stories of when migrants in Malmö experience difficulties in establishing contacts with the majority community, despite a strong will from the migrant's side for it to happen. The Swedish society is perceived as a difficult society to interact with as a migrant. Swedes are perceived as friendly, but very reserved. Cederberg writes further about the migrants' experiences of unreasonable demands from the majority society towards them: to get anywhere in the Swedish society the informant's experience that they must "be very Swedish," "think Swedish" and "behave Swedish". Especially in the labour market; "Swedishness" is sometimes not only perceived as a cultural capital, but also as a working competence and ability (ibid.). Vicky Cattell's article Poor people, poor places and poor health: The mediating role of social networks and social capital (2001), also confirms the hardship experienced by lower classes in widening their networks. She observes that the social networks of the middle-class – being more resource-rich – have it much easier to widen themselves than the networks of the working-class which are usually weak of resources and have difficulties of widening its own network (ibid.).
Being a victim of discrimination, being “otherized” or belong to a stigmatized group in a society might have a great impact on people's social-network-building-processes. Lena Sawyer's study (2002) on the African diaspora in Sweden points out three different ways, which she calls the "routes", on how different groups react to the experience of stigma. One reaction is that individuals who experience stigma become strongly bonded to their background, to the same group that is stigmatized and excluded (Isolation). The stigma can also become something that some people relate to and identify with. Another reaction is that some distance themselves from their roots or groups and try to totally adapt to the dominant society, thus avoiding the experience of stigma
(Distancing). And a third reaction is that of some people neither fully adapt to the majority, nor isolate themselves into enclaves (Resistance). Something in between or beyond the first two “routes”. Sawyer argues that this reaction may pave the way to new astereotypical networks. These networks can be based on new kinds of identities, maybe the sharing of the same kinds of values, idols or ideologies, but beyond ethnic or religious patterns (ibid.).
In the theory of contact hypothesis, Gordon Allport (1954) explores the dynamics between minority and majority relations. Some of Allport's explanations on the topic relevant for this study will be distinguished. In his book The Nature of Prejudice, Allport demonstrates that once majority groups are exposed to minority groups, as well as gaining broad information on minority groups, prejudices or negative attitudes towards minorities are less likely to be upheld. Allport also lays much importance on what places or zones the contact between majority and minority groups are being made. Allport detects five main different zones or forms of encounter; 1) associations where groups of people of different backgrounds interact and cooperate (the intra – associational), 2) associations where groups of people with single identities or exclusive interests interacts with each other (the inter – associational), 3) interaction on an individual level without organization, usually through shopping, travelling or leisure activities (social incidental), 4) organized or planned interaction by group activities participating in sports, music, arts and generally organized by clubs or societies (social organizational), and 5) meetings in structural spheres like schools, workplaces etc (structural cultural contact). Of course, there are both opportunities and risks when cross-cultural interacting occurs (ibid.). Additionally, complementary critiques on Allport's contact hypothesis points out that besides the importance of the place that the encounter takes place, very much depends on the dynamics of the interaction itself. For Wood and Laundry (2008), it is of great importance whether the interaction is seen by the participants as out of free will or not. In their book The intercultural city – planning for diversity advantage (2008), they note that too much promotion of the meeting could end up appearing as forced or superficial. Therefore, it is very important that the promoter and the meeting ground are neutral. For example, a very important zone of many intercultural interactions are the schools, and those are not very neutral. Schools are normative in its attitudes. And in most cases, schools favor majority values (Wood and Laundry 2008).
The daily social contact between people of migration background and “native Swedish” living in `Millionprogramme multiethnic suburbs´ of Sweden becomes even more complicated due to the phenomenon of what some researchers call “the white flight”, “native flight”, or “native avoidance” (Neuman 2013, Neuman 2015, Aldén et al 2012, Müller et al 2018). “The white flight”, a term being first brought to debate in the late 50s in Chicago (USA), has also been used by the Swedish researcher in economics Emma Neuman, in several of her studies when looking at residential mobility in Sweden. She uses the concept in order to understand the behaviour of the
native population and the rise of ethnic segregation in Sweden. The paper Residential mobility, tipping behaviour, and ethnic segregation: Evidence from Sweden conducted by Neuman et.al. (2012) analyses the `tipping behaviour´ of the “natives” in twelve of the largest cities in Sweden. Neuman et.al. demonstrates in the paper that once there's a “large” proportion of migrant residents in a suburb the native residents move out of the suburb. This “tipping point”, as she calls it, is different depending on the city. In Malmö, for example, it is shown that once there is a percentage of 39.5% of migrants or more in a suburb, that's when the “native residents” start to move out of the neighbourhood; the “native flight”. Accordingly, “natives” avoid moving into neighbourhoods where there's a large percentage of migrants; the “native avoidance” (ibid.).
Discussion on the concepts of social capital will be presented in the next chapter when discussing the theory of this thesis.
4 Theory
My ontological starting point is that there exists a reality independent of my consciousness. At the same time there exists a constructed reality which I can be aware of. I do also strongly believe that the construction of this constructed reality is not merely an individual enterprise but also a collective one. My point of view is not created in a vacuum, but rather/also determined by my position in social space, which in turn can itself contribute to the construction of the social world (Bourdieu 1989). It is against this background that I will get ahead with my theoretical frame of reference regarding social capital.
In this chapter different theories on social capital will be considered and I will extend the depth of them. I will first introduce different views on networks and resources. Meanwhile, Pierre Bourdieu's (i. a. 1979) concept of social capital will be moreover drawn on with a specific focus on how cultural and symbolic capital interact with social capital. Additionally, I will present relevant theories on humour and I will venture into integrating the concept of humour as another component of cultural capital in a bourdieusian sense.
4.1 Networks and resources
One of the most popular theories about social capital comes from Robert D. Putnam's book Bowling Alone (2000). His theory on social capital is nevertheless very useful in mapping different structures of networks. Putnam divides social capital in two major dimensions, namely bonding and bridging networks. Ethnic enclaves, other various sectarian circles or VIP clubs are examples of networks that can be counted as bonding. Putnam explains that the bonding networks are exclusionary in its attitude towards other groups. The bridging dimension, on the other hand, are networks such as organizations working for the public benefit. Further, the bonding dimension of networks consists of what he calls strong-ties between individuals, whereas the bridging dimension consists of weak-ties between the individuals. He strongly argues that the more weak-weak-ties there is beyond one's bonding network, the stronger the social capital. Surely, both dimensions create trust, cooperation and solidarity, but it is precisely the bridging networks, through its weak-ties, that can lead to the sharing of resources and information. One can only, as Putnam calls it, “get by” through bonding social capital, whilst one can “get ahead” through bridging and linking connections. Social capital can, thus, in the positive case, contribute to cooperation, trust, and efficiency among people but also between people and institutions. In the opposite case social capital can contribute to sectarianism, ethnocentrism and corruption (ibid.).
Disentangling a Concept for Social Work, directs criticism against Putnam's claims on the benefits of trust in enriching the social capital. They add that high-levels of trust among networks can be both helpful and hurtful in gaining advantage. For the low-income individuals, due to the fact that the low recourses of these individuals, trust may not improve life. It can even become a barrier to advantage. The article, however, is a study on social workers in the USA and their common goal of enhancing well-being and social justice, by specifically looking at how the concept of social capital is used by social workers in enhancing those objectives (2012). Hawking and Maurer emphasize on the importance of social support in networking and how it can be implemented in forms of e.g., emotional encouragement, advice, information, guidance or concrete aid (2012:335).
A comparable theory on social capital comes from the Chinese sociologist Nan Lin. In his article Inequeality in social capital (2000), Lin divides the social networks of people in two dimensions. These two dimensions are called heterogeneous (quantitative) a n d homogeneous (qualitative) networks. In comparison to Putnam, Lin puts more focus on the resource-strength of the networks rather than their structure. The networks, he stresses, are stronger or weaker depending entirely on their resources (information access and power of influence) rather than their structure. The more resource-rich the network is the greater the advancement of opportunities for the individuals within the network. A resource-rich network can thus result in better job seeking opportunities, promotions, income and so on. Lin also writes about the different attitude and approach among individuals towards each other. The difference occurs mainly based on the level of resources that a network possesses. Lin explains that many individuals of resource-poor networks, being conscious of their inferior position, get more motivated and actively mobilize themselves to get into contact with the resource-stronger networks in order to access useful information that can be beneficial for them. The individuals of resource-rich networks, on the other hand, are not consciously active in the search for external resources, mainly because that happens automatically in their daily routines, a behaviour that is embedded in their everyday lives. Consciously and actively searching for external networks occurs only when you become aware of the lack of information and influence. Nevertheless, this motivation of resource-poor individuals are actually an exceptional behaviour, he argues. It is only a small part of the resource-poor individuals who succeed in their search for stronger networks since most of them do not get enough motivated to do this (ibid.). This lack of motivation among resource-poor individuals, is also discussed by the german researcher on intercultural education, Andreas Pöllman.
Andreas Pöllman (2013) has an explanation for why some resource-poor individuals lack motivation for external networks. Pöllmann shows in his article Intercultural capital: Conceptualization, and empirical investigation of a rising marker of socioculutural distinction (2013), that the stereotyping of certain groups in a society can demotivate resource-poor individuals from mobilizing themselves to actively seek external bridging links. This happens especially if the
negative image affects the victim's self-image and self-esteem. Instead of running away from the negative image, most of the vulnerable remain within their group. Discrimination and marginalisation can even become a reference point for their identity, pride, community, etc (ibid.).
4.2 The interaction of symbolic, cultural and social capital – Bourdieu’s model
To gain a deeper understanding of the interaction between social capital and other forms of capital, the study will be permeated by Pierre Bourdieu’s model of social capital. According to Bourdieu (1979, 1984, 1990), all forms of capital (the- economic, social, cultural and symbolic) possess the ability of convertibility into other forms of capital with the effect of some groups gaining advantage and/or some being disadvantaged. For example, being a rich person (economic capital) raises the likelihood of accessing important information or knowledge (cultural capital) and also having resource-rich friends (social capital). And vice versa, a person with resource-rich friends is more likely to get access to important information or knowledge which could in turn increase the likelihood of economic benefits. Simply put, social capital is part of, affected and shaped by all the other forms of capital. When studying social capital, one cannot get the overall picture by only studying networks of people. One has to look at the economic circumstances, the cultural background (e.g. education, knowledge, experiences and so on) but also the status and the value an individual, or a social group possesses in a society (ibid.).
4.2.1 Strategies of condensation
The dominant groups in a society make use of different strategies in order to maintain their higher rank in the society. The exclusion of “others” (lower ranking groups or individuals of a society), for example, is one of the most important strategies. Bourdieu (1989) explains that depending on differences in social, economic, symbolic and cultural capital, “a sense of oneself”5 is established
among individuals. This “sense of oneself” becomes the guideline of both constructing and relating to the social structures of this world. To put it simply, it defines the sense of belonging to a social class. Positions are created in the social space and depending on the position, different strategies of behaviour emerge towards each other between individuals or social groups. Alike, depending on what strategies an individual uses, also in turn defines an individual's ranking or positioning. For example, by keeping close relation to “common folks”, but at the same time being handy in keeping a good balance (between not getting too far or too close towards the “others”) classifies an upper-class behaviour. As harsh as it may sound, Bourdieu believes that this behaviour can at many times be an unconscious behaviour among dominant groups in a society. Bourdieu adds that the
positioning of individuals or social groups in social space can determine the most important relations created among people e.g. friendships, love-affairs, marriages and so on (Bourdieu 1989:17, 1984:472-473).
4.2.2 Symbolic capital vs symbolic violence
Symbolic capital is, according to Bourdieu, the value and appreciation that the other three capitals (the economic, social, and cultural capital) gain in a society. The differences in the status of an individual or social group in a society can be seen as manifestations of social class differences. But how does a certain capital get its recognition in a society? First of all, Bourdieu explains that the capital is accumulated and embedded in both objective and subjective structures and that those two interplays in constructing our social world. This interplay, Bourdiueu explains, is also a struggle between different individuals or social groups in a society. In the modern society, these struggles occur inside, what Bourdieu calls, social fields, e.g. schools, institutions, music genres, etc. And once there is competition there can be a winner too. The dominating social group in a society is usually the winning party over these fields, e.g. in schools. Once having monopoly over these fields, the dominant group can thus reward, categorize or label social subjects or objects in a society. The monopoly over fields is what Bourdieu calls symbolic violence. Therefore, all pedagogic action (PA), as Bourdieu and Passeron write, “is objectively symbolic violence, insofar as it is the imposition of a cultural arbitrary by an arbitrary power” (1990:5). Symbolic violence is thus applied, simultaneously as symbolic capital, by producing or reproducing categories, labels, but also establishing hierarchical orders between e.g. masculine vs feminine, high vs low, strong vs weak, beautiful vs ugly, funny vs not funny, etc. It maintains social distinctions. Those “otherized” and stigmatized are targeted with symbolic violence, while the established ones rewarded with symbolic capital (Bourdieu 1979, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990).
4.2.3 Cultural capital and habitus
There are, according to Bourdieu, three forms in which cultural capital can exist; the embodied state, the objectified state and the institutionalized state. The embodied cultural capital, which I will pay more focus on this study, is embedded in the human’s mind and body, shaped by social experiences, collective memories, behaviour, ways of thinking, education, taste and so on. Habitus is the concept used by Bourdieu to describe the embodied cultural capital of an individual. To put it simply, habitus is the personified cultural capital of an individual. Habitus is manifested continuously, not only in the way we think, but also bodily and visibly such as the way we walk, how we move our body, facial expressions, ways of sitting, tilting the head, the way we speak (the
tone of our voice) and so on (Bourdieu 2004:44). The latter being of far more importance according to Bourdieu: ‘what they do has more meaning than what they know’ (1977:35). Since Habitus is a collection of experiences dating back to the childhood, most people are unconscious about their own Habitus (Bourdieu 1977:79). Those qualities are all cultural capitals transmitted and shaped by the interplay the individual has had in its course of life with different social structures (family, friends, school, society, etc.). In other words, habitus is embodied dispositions that are bodily manifested too. It is history being being accumulated and incorporated in one's body throughout time. An individual's cultural dispositions can also be seen as an investment with the ability to accumulate the social capital (Bourdieu 1986).
4.2.4 Hybridizing habitus?
Is identity merely a product of the field? Can we as individuals initiate new identities beyond traditional identities and beyond the influence of fields? Critiques towards the concept of habitus, accuses Bourdieu's point of view of being way too deterministic (Adams 2006). The point of view in which he sees the habitus of an individual only as a (re)production of the fields. The determinism in it, is due to the fact that Bourdieu underlines, that an individual's habitus has not much possibility for any fluidity. Thus, subjectivism is subservient to objectivism. The habitus is a production of fields and fields are dependent on the power of social structures and its constraining system. However, some reflexivity is possible, but that can only happen in “times of crisis”, Bourdieu claims. Habitus can in some exclusive cases transform, or reinvent itself, specifically when an individual encounter unfamiliar fields (Bourdieu 1990). Paul Sweetman, on the other hand, adds that these “times of crisis” have become endemic in a post-traditional setting; where movements in between fields have increased among individuals, the boundaries between them has become blurred, consequently normalizing a continuation of reflexivity of habitus, and also because of the ever changing character of many fields, before they even manage to get established. Thus, in many fields today, reflexivity of habitus, can become a normal state rather than an act in “crisis” (Sweetman 2003:540-541). Again, Bourdieu thinks that even reflexivity of habitus is delimited to the “systematic exploration of the unthought categories of thought that delimit the thinkable and predetermine the thought” (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992:40). In other words, the reflexive process being itself paradoxically a form of Habitus, is initiated, submitted to and a production of agents and fields (ibid.).
4.2.5 Taste
taste is very much linked to one's economic, cultural and social conditions. The differences in taste manifest themselves through a system of dispositions, the Habitus. Consequently, the distinctions the social subjects make distinguishes the social subjects themselves. Similar to one's choices of friends, choices of taste classify a subject in social space. In other words, by expressing different objective classifications, a social subject classifies oneself (Bourdieu 1984:6). But of more importance than expressing classifications, is one's ability to actually betray classifications. According to Bourdieu, “tastes are perhaps first and foremost distaste, disgust provoked by horror or visceral intolerance ('sickmaking') of the tastes of others” (1984:56).
4.2.6 My bourdieuian interpretation of humour
The concept of humour is not paid attentention to in Bourdieu's studies. However, his concepts of cultural capital, taste and habitus are very helpful tools in order to make sense of the concept of humour. I will think of humour as just another element of cultural capital and at the same time a manifestation of aesthetic dispositions and taste. Therewith, what's funny or not (humour) is equally depended on aesthetic dispositions as to what's beautiful or not (art). Additionally, a social subject's taste in humour, can of course, equal to art, classify the social subject him/herself, depending on what the subject a) is able to perceive or b) chooses to perceive as funny or not. Therefore, in this thesis the concept of humour will be treated as another important component of cultural capital in a bourdieuian sense, an important aesthetic cultural capital; a 'comic cultural capital'.
Further down, I will present relevant theories discussing the utility of humour among humans. Thereafter, two studies, conducted in the Netherlands and Great Britain, will demonstrate the differences in the taste of humour with regard to different social classes.
4.3 The utility of humour
Humour and laughter can promote good mental health (Crawford and Caltabioano 2011), reduce anxiety and enhance social connections (Miczo and Welter 2006, Graham 1995). It can help people to deepen their relationship (Miczo 2004). Hampes (1992) points out that humour has a strong connection to emotional intimacy, daring to create close relationships with other people where one can share personal thoughts and feelings. And to be humorous requires that a person feels secure in the relationship and/or the situation the person is in (Miczo and Welter 2006). To play or joke, the participants must feel secure in the situation and relations, where the rules are understood and accepted by all participants. Meanwhile, humour can contain several other different dimensions. It
can be playful, where the entertainment and playfulness become the reward in itself. But humour can also be serious, in the case where humour is only used as a tool to achieve other purposes. In the latter, the purpose is of more importance than the humour itself. That means that in one dimension, humour can serve as bonding, emotionally- and friendship entertaining (affiliative humour), but on the opposite, it can also be degrading, dividing, controlling, hierarchizing and maintaining of norms and standards (aggressive humour) (ibid.). Further, Miczo and Welter (2006) based on Bowlby's (1982) Attachment theory, shows that there are two different types of behaviour in humour. In the first one, the attachment behaviour, people tends to behave more protective and conservative, while in the other one, the exploration behaviour, people behave more curious and exploratory. Again, only when full security is reached among all people one may be ready or confident enough to explore the outsides of their perimeter. If an insecure situation appears, people tend to be anxious and distancing. For example, ethnic jokes are a very prominent type of humour in ethnocentric surroundings, thus arising usually when one's own culture or ethnicity is perceived as being threatened. Once insecure, by the use of ethnic jokes, often based on stereotypical images, one would try to maintain a hierarchical order (Neuliep and McCroskey 1997, Hasenauer 1988, Gonzales and Wiseman 2005, Miczo and Welter 2006).
4.4 Class - and it's differences in the taste of humour
“All of you, the system that knows so much, you decide what’s right or wrong. The same way that you decide what’s funny or not.” Joker (2019)
“While shared humour is thus a foundational ingredient of friendship, trust and intimacy, its absence often marks an unbridgeable social divide” (Kuipers and Friedman 2013:193). Humour differences can, as we will see, arise due to cultural differences (Gonzales and Wiseman 2005) or class differences (Kuiper’s 2006). Both, Kuiper's study Good humour, bad taste: A sociology of the Joke (2006) executed in the Netherlands and Friedman's study The cultural currency of a ‘good’ sense of humour: British comedy and new forms of distinction (2011) executed in Great Britain, show a clear distinction in the taste of humour when looking at different social classes, with the level of education among people being the main differentiating indicator. For example, the admirers o f highbrow-humour (as the author categorizes the middle- and upper-class humour) are more highly educated while admirers of lowbrow-humour (categorizing the lower class) are low skilled. Differences between these two groups become also evident in their attitudes towards different kind of humour. For example, the admirers of highbrow-humour are usually aware of lowbrow-humour, but do not appreciate it, while most admirers of lowbrow-humour don't have a clue about the existence of different highbrow-humour. The demands for good humour also differ between those
two social groups. Admirers of lowbrow-humour appreciate humour that is simple, affecting ordinary people (which are related to the neighbourhoods), usually expressed through jokes, sometimes “rough” jokes, laughs, animation and entertainment. Highbrow-humour groups, on the other side, have greater demands on good humour. Simple jokes are not appreciated. Humour is good only if it contains something more than only entertainment. Humour has to include originality, absurdity, beauty, etc. The more complicated the better the humour. In other words, there is not so much focus on the entertainment itself, but instead on some kind of intellectual stimulation. Highbrow-humour is usually beyond the reach of the “others” and it is not easily recognized. It intentionally requires a specific type of taste, habitus, cultural capital, or aesthetic dispositions to even be capable to notice it, i.e. to be able to understand it and to know what is good and what is beautiful (ibid.). Or as Bourdieu would put it: “a work of art has meaning and interest only for someone who possesses the cultural competence, that is, the code, which it is encoded.” (1984:2). However, new material from a later study on the same topic (Friedman and Kuipers 2013) conducted by the same authors shows that many of the lowbrow-humour admirers are well aware of t h e highbrow-humour. They understand it, they know it exists, but don't find it funny. They intentionally reject it. They can also feel pity for the highbrow-humour admirers. They do so on the basis of experiencing it as “stiff”, “sterile”, “yarning for diversion” and “not being able to let go and have fun”. Many of the lowbrow-humour admirers believe that humour and comedy is “the privileged domain of the working-class”, due to the historical dominance of the working-class comedy in the Netherlands and Britain. As Friedman and Kuipers conclude; the working-class can thus make use of humour to challenge the dominant notions and values in a society (2013:192).
Having explained my theoretical point of departure for this thesis, I will in the next chapter present my methodological considerations.
5 Methodology
In this chapter, I will present; a) the method chosen for this thesis, b) reflections about my role as a researcher, c) my methodological approach, d) the way the material of this thesis was gathered and e) later analysed, f) the ethical considerations made for this thesis, and finally, g) I will discuss the reliability and validity of this thesis.
5.1 Choice of method
My epistemological starting point for this thesis is that of interpretativism. Interpretativism is used when aiming to explain and/or understanding people's behaviour. The qualitative design of this thesis, based on semi-structured interviews (see Appendix), besides explaining e.g. a phenomenon, will also help me in my attempt of gaining a deeper understanding of the experiences, attitudes, opinions, emotions or motivations of the young people in this study (Bryman 2008, Silverman 2005:112). There are different purposes for what a life-story interview can be used for. For example, in autobiographies, life story interviews focus totally on the individual story (ideographic purpose) while in sociology, it is not the individual or personal story which is its main interest but the life story in a social context (nomothetic purpose). Life-story interviews in sociology are used to better understand “a social reality existing outside the story but told by the story,” (Atkinson 2007:227). In other words, individual stories are seen to represent not only subjectivations but also objectivations. The individual story is always seen to be part of a bigger context where social constructions and norms can affect the way the story is told by the individual. The individual story can always be seen as part of a collective story (Svensson 2015). The interviews of this thesis have a “nomothetic purpose”, thus contextualizing the life-story of an individual in a social context. Nonetheless, the informant's story is paid attention based on their personal experiences. The interview template will contain questions about their present situation and also about their upbringing, as well as their childhood and schools, career, housing situation, family situation, the economic situation, friendship, and their attitudes towards their neighbourhoods, schools and the rest of the society. Conversations about these topics were useful for the study in understanding the young people’s network building over time and space and to identify the situations and places in which the informants have found it easy to create or faced difficulties in building networks. However, my interview template is only a tool to “bring out to life” the different experiences. The importance of listening to the specific individual's experiences was most important of all (Somekth and Lewin 2005). In this way, their own opinions and reflections on their social network building over time were highlighted. Therefore, follow-up questions based on the topic that the informants considered important were very common during the conversation (Bryman 2008).
5.2 My role as a researcher
Being myself a migrant, a man whom also have grown up in one of Malmö's Millionprogramme neighbourhoods might have had a strong impact on the study, specifically in the recruitment of the respondents and their attitudes towards me as a researcher (see Ethical Considerations, page 28). Nonetheless, access in itself is not sufficient in a research process. Being able to capitalize the benefits of my identity representations (however, not overusing it), might have led to a positive outcome of the research process as well. The trust I gained from the informants was a much needed emotional condition in order to pave the way for openness during the interviews (Lalander 2009).
5.3 Inductive reasoning
As previously mentioned, my thesis started with the aim of studying the social capital of these young people based on Putnams model of social capital. But, throughout the interviewing process, depended on the new ideas arising from the material, more theoretical models were involved in gaining a deeper understanding of the material. This approach can in methodological terms be described as an inductive approach. The evolution of the thesis followed this sequence; the aim was to study the social capital of some young females and males; I had a rough frame of questions. The questionnaire was based on Putnam's model of social capital; a hypothetic explanation was made. Thereafter, when the interviews were conducted; first data started getting gathered, my hypothesis explanations were changed, with now, among others, incorporating Bourdieu's concept of social capital in understanding the material; the reformulation of the hypothesis (Bryamn, 2008:511-513).
5.4 Gathering Data
The material for this study is based on eleven semi-structured interviews with young people having grown up in the areas of Kroksbäck or Holma during the 90s and 2000s. Semi-structured interviews were chosen specifically to see the progress, the difficulties and evolution of their networks over the course of life. For example, one has to consider the fact that the interviewing processes were mainly held during the summer holidays. Thus, this point of time would probably not reflect the majority days of the year. However, seven of the informants are from Holma, and four from Kroksbäck. Among the eleven individuals interviewed, six were males and five were females. The youngest one is a 17-year old male and the eldest one a 30-year old female. Since most previous research in the same area have most of the time paid attention in writing about problematised boys, I am very happy this study will present a diverse group in many aspects. Aside from almost the same number of young males and females being present, the group is also very diverse in its activities and also
professions. One being a high school student, two just graduating high school, three others working (unskilled), two being college students and three other working as social workers. The contact established with the young people was done through network sampling. I came into contact with most of the informants through a youth recreation centre (Aktivitetshuset) in Holma. Recreation leaders from “Save the Children”, the head of unit of the Leisure and Prevention of West Malmö (Malmö Väster), and numerous other recreation leaders in at the youth recreation centre have been very helpful in finding young people for my interviews. They also contributed with their own knowledge and experience on the topic. Most of the interviews have been performed at the facilities of this youth recreation centre in Holma. Interviews have also been made in the young people’s own workplace, public places and also in the facilities of Malmö University. The interviews were recorded on a tape recorder and executed in the Swedish language. They were later on transcribed and afterwards translated into English. The interviews could last anything from 30 minutes up to 1 hour and 45 minutes.
5.5 Analysing Data
The analysing process of the material started more or less already in the interviewing process. During the interviews, new thoughts on the topic raised by the informants on how they look at their social capital and social networks, made a great impact on broadening the theoretical framework in how to analyse the concept of social capital. For example, in the beginning, I didn't have any intention on rather asking about or analysing the concept of humour (see Appendix). Humour became relevant due to the fact that most of the informants highlighted its crucial importance on becoming a friend with someone. By just being a good listener made also the analysis process so much more exciting. Nevertheless, the analysing process continued throughout the time. Whilst transcribing the material, I also picked up some interesting fragments/topics related to the concepts and categories I aimed to theorize. The findings were also simultaneously discussed with people I knew had knowledge on the topic. In this way I got encouraging advices about where I was heading to in my thesis. However, one most not forget that all of the fragments/topics were part of the different individual stories. In this way, I went back and read the interviews, the different stories but also the contexts of the story. The data were later analysed in harmony with theories of social capital, i.e. with a specific focus on the interplay of symbolic- and cultural capital, i.e. humour theories. Since the interviews were in the Swedish language I had to translate them into English later. Some words, especially slang words, have also been given a deeper explanation in an effort to adopt its meaning into an English-speaking context.
5.6 Ethical considerations
Being present as a researcher in the field makes the researcher person important. Age, gender, clothing style, language and so on can be important factors during the meetings. Reflections should also be made on one’s own preconceptions, political views, cultural background, on how the research project is being presented, how the informants perceive it and what expectations the informants have from the research (Arvidsson 2001:101). Interesting to mention is the way many of the informants treated me during the interviews. Me being a person of migration background had a very clear impact. For example, I was many times confronted during the interviews with similar kind of statements; “You know what I'm talking about” , “You must have experienced it yourself?”, “You know, looking as we do” (indicating to our physical differences from the “Swedes”) and so on. At the same time, I felt most of the times that many of the informants (especially the young males) were very relaxed during the interviews. But this cannot not be said about all of the girls. I believe that gender played a role here. I was a guy, with migrant background, having grown up in a similar neighbourhood. And for some of the young females it was also important that I was of Albanian ethnicity. They would ask me questions about the people I would know in the area and other questions about me as a person. Considering this, one cannot ignore the impact gender, ethnicity and class, might have had on the interviews. Everything from gaining full trust from the informants to maybe getting very limited answers from them.
Before each interview, the informants were asked if it was okay to record the conversation and none had anything against it. Of course, they were simultaneously told that their identity will be anonymized. Anonymity had to be considered due to the fact that in life-story interviews sensitive information could occur (Somekth and Lewin 2005:220). The anonymization includes not only replacing the names of the informants, but also the names of the schools they went to or names of their working places. In this way, identification of the person is made impossible. Also, the aim of the thesis was explained beforehand and there were even discussions about the topic before starting the interview.
The usage of certain concepts and categories such as “otherized” or “marginalized”, have been necessary in order to explain specific phenomena in this study. This has though automatically made me reflect a lot on how my use of these concepts and categories can, paradoxically, beyond my will, contribute in reinforcing certain concepts and categories targeting specific residential areas or groups of people, that I only aimed to inform about. Based on these reflections, I have tried my best by using these terms only in necessary situations (not overusing them) whilst at the same time informing about these concepts and categories historical contextual background.
5.7 Validity and Reliability
Reliability in research is about being able to ensure that if someone else does the same research as you are the result are expected to be similar (O'Reilly 2012:27). And a reflexive approach contributes to a greater ”methodological awareness” very much desired in qualitative research (Silverman 2005:209, Alvesson and Sjöberg 1994:321-324).
In this thesis I am not in any way trying to present an objective truth. This due to my thesis being exclusively a qualitative study based on a few semi-structured interviews. As mentioned above in the ethical considerations part, I've had a lot of reflection on my role as a researcher in the study and what impact it might have had in the study during its different phases. My ethnicity, being myself a migrant of Albanian origin in Sweden, having grown up in `Millionprogramme multiethnic suburbs ´ in Malmö or be seen as a male, might have had an impact on the answers of the informants depending on whom I was interviewing. Taking all of this into consideration, I would not be surprised if same interview questions were conducted by another researcher and that the outcome would be different than mine. The place where the interviews are executed is also of high importance. Most of my interviews were conducted in places where the young adults were familiar with or felt at home. For example, the youth recreation centre (Aktivitetshuset), where I got most of my interviews, was a place where many of the young adults would hang out in the evening on a daily routine. Only one of my informants was interviewed in the facilities of Malmö University. Two of the informants were interviewed outside on a bench when it was good weather and they themselves chose to sit wherever they felt comfortable. While two others were interviewed at their working office.
Considering the validity of a research O'Reilly (2012:226) writes that it is of high importance that the researcher is expected to confront its own prejudices and deal with them to avoid bias; ”and when we present the wider community with enough information to enable them to judge for themselves and to challenge our findings”. From the very beginning of the research, before even the interview template was formed, me and other researchers in our research project aimed at interviewing as diverse young adults of Holma and Kroksbäck as possible. To reach this we aimed at reaching an equal representation of gender.
The next chapter is Result and analysis where I will present the material from the interviews followed by my comments.
6 Result and analysis
In this chapter the result of the material will be presented. It will be analysed through different perspective themes, starting with a) closer look at the young adult's experiences of growing up in Holma and Kroksbäck, their perceptions of themselves, their school and their neighbourhood, b) their experiences of when in contact with the rest of the society and how it affected them, c) looking closer at their networks and resources, but also at the motives and the strategies these young adults make use of in their efforts to gain advantage, and d) exploring the cultural dispositions these young people possess – enabling or hindering them to gain advantage. But first of all, there will be a short presentation of the informants:
6.1 A presentation of the informants
Down below there is a short presentation of every informant regarding their age, background, employment, networks, engagement, leisure activities, school career and places they have lived in throughout their lives:
Female informants
Erica6, is 19 years old. Her parents migrated from Kosova. She has lived in Holma since she was one year
old. Just finished high school. Erica has applied to study at college. Meanwhile, she is involved in many different projects. She is co-organizer of an association working with youth in the city and also helped start an antiracist group in Holma. She does jog. She has three close friends. Two of them are from Holma. In the past she was very active in sports doing tennis, football, basket and golf. She also volunteered in different projects.
Lisa, is 23 years old. Her parents migrated from Albania. She has lived in Kroksbäck since she was two years old. She is a college student. She works extra as a fashion model and hostess for a tourist agency. Lisa goes to the gym and does jogging. She is also a member of an ethnic association. She has five close friends (none of them are from Kroksbäck). She never went to Kroksbäckskolan. In the past, she did a little kickboxing, ballet, choir singing, theatre, and swimming and did travel outside of Sweden four times a year with her family.
Madeleine, is 24 years old. Her parents migrated from North Macedonia. She was born in another city in Sweden but moved to Holma when she was eight years old where she still lives. A social worker in Holma. Meanwhile, she does boxing and fitness together with a working colleague. She has eight close friends and all of them are from Holma. In the past, she tried karate, tennis, kickboxing, and football and was also active in an organized activity at the youth recreation centre in Holma.
Johanna, is 26 years old. Her parents migrated from Kosova. She works as a social worker. As a child, she lived in another region in Sweden and then moved to Holma when she was ten years old. One year ago, she moved away from Holma to the city centre. She does yoga and boxing together with a working colleague. She has six close friends of whom all grew up in Holma. In the past, she did kickboxing and was also active in an organized activity at the Youth recreation centre.
Helena, is 30 years old. Her father migrated from the Philippiness. Her mother is from Sweden. She has lived all her life in Kroksbäck. She works as a social worker. She is involved in and helped start different projects in Kroksbäck and Malmö. She was a college student, but didn't finish her master's thesis yet. She
