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Changing Countries, Changing Cultures a Qualitative Study of Cultural Change After Migration

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Changing Countries, Changing Cultures a Qualitative Study of Cultural Change After Migration Changing Countries, Changing Cultures A Qualitative Study of Cultural Change After Migration Tzovinar Yeranossian Supervisor: Ugo Corte Examinator: Sebastian Kohl Master’s Thesis in Sociology Department of Sociology, Uppsala University Spring 2017 Abstract In a time of globalization and multiculturalism, the discourses on migration and social issues have become increasingly focused on culture. Although cultural changes are considered an important part of integration processes, there is uncertainty about what these changes actually are, and how they come about. The purpose of this study is to examine how migrants define and experience culture and cultural changes, and how they construct these changes. Starting from an elaborated version of Ann Swidler’s concept of culture as a toolkit, and through interviews with 19 people who have migrated to Sweden, the study shows that people experience culture as permeating all aspects of their life, intimately linked to their social lives. They also actively use culture as a tool to negotiate between cultural preservation, and integration into a new society. In the process of cultural changes, culture is both the subject of change, and the method for their construction. Keywords: culture, cultural change, migration, globalization, culture as a toolkit. Տատիկիս համար ֍ For my grandmother Acknowledgements First and foremost, I wish to thank my respondents for participating in this study. I hope the experience was as pleasant and interesting for you as it was for me. I also appreciate the help of all those who helped me get in contact with respondents. I am very grateful to my supervisor, Ugo Corte, for his guidance and encouragement. Further, I wish to thank my course mates, who have shared the trials and tribulations of this process with me. A special thanks to my roommate for proof-reading. Finally, I want to thank my family and my boyfriend for supporting me and keeping my spirits up. Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Migration and culture in Sweden .............................................................................. 1 1.1.1 Studying culture within sociology ............................................................................ 3 1.1.2 Studying cultural change........................................................................................... 3 1.1.3 Studying migration as a form of unsettled life .......................................................... 4 1.2 Purpose and questions ...................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Disposition ....................................................................................................................... 5 2. Previous Research .................................................................................................................. 7 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Presentation of previous research .................................................................................... 7 2.2.1 Definitions of culture ................................................................................................ 8 2.2.2 Studying cultural change......................................................................................... 12 2.2.3 Research results ...................................................................................................... 15 2.3 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 16 2.3.1 Problematic elements of the previous research ....................................................... 16 2.3.2 Implications for this study ...................................................................................... 17 2.4 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 17 3. Theory .................................................................................................................................. 19 3.1 Cultural sociology: studying the link between ‘cultural’ and ‘social’ ........................... 19 3.1.1 Spillman: Brief overview of the field of cultural sociology ................................... 19 3.1.2 Alexander: Culture as an underlying meaning structure ......................................... 20 3.2 Swidler: Studying culture as a toolkit, in unsettled lives ............................................... 22 3.2.1 Culture as a toolkit .................................................................................................. 23 3.2.2 Settled and unsettled lives ....................................................................................... 24 3.3 Wade: Studying culture as a dynamic tool, and change as socially constructed ........... 26 3.3.1 Culture as a tool ...................................................................................................... 26 3.3.2 Cultural change as a social construction ................................................................. 27 3.3.3 Dynamic versus reified view of culture .................................................................. 27 3.4 Summary: Studying culture sociologically, as a dynamic tool, in unsettled lives ......... 28 4. Method ................................................................................................................................. 31 4.1 Approach ........................................................................................................................ 31 4.1.1 Qualitative research ................................................................................................ 31 4.1.2 Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) ................................................... 31 4.2 Selection ......................................................................................................................... 33 4.2.1 Sample..................................................................................................................... 33 4.2.2 Sampling ................................................................................................................. 33 4.2.3 Respondents ............................................................................................................ 35 4.3 Data gathering ................................................................................................................ 36 4.4 Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 37 4.5 Validity and reliability ................................................................................................... 38 4.6 Methodological considerations and limitations ............................................................. 39 4.7 Ethical considerations .................................................................................................... 39 5. Results .................................................................................................................................. 41 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 41 5.2 Presentation of results .................................................................................................... 41 5.2.1 Culture as “everything”........................................................................................... 42 5.2.2 Culture as social ...................................................................................................... 44 5.2.3 Culture as dynamic ................................................................................................. 51 5.2.4 Culture as a tool ...................................................................................................... 55 6. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 62 6.1 Summary of results ........................................................................................................ 62 6.2 Results in relation to previous research ......................................................................... 64 6.3 Results in relation to theory ........................................................................................... 66 6.4 Results in relation to method ......................................................................................... 68 6.5 Implications for further research and practice ............................................................... 69 References Appendix 1: Written information for interviews Appendix 2: Interview guide Appendix 3: Excerpt from interview summary 1. Introduction This chapter presents the background and main problem of this thesis, as well as its purpose and research questions. It ends with a presentation of the disposition of the thesis. 1.1 Background This thesis is a study of cultural changes after migration. Through interviews with 19 people who have migrated to Sweden, it seeks to examine people’s experiences of how their cultures have changed after their
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