Integration and the formation of ethnic identity among South Asian immigrants in Norway

Abstract

This study is designed to explore the process of integration and ethnic identity among South Asian immigrants in Norway. In this study I examine the extent to which different factors such as, time since migration, receptiveness of the host society, position in the labor market, schools, social networks, and interaction with the host society, contribute to immigrants’ integration and the construction of their identity in a multicultural society like Norway. Based on ethnographic methods including unstructured interviews of first-generation South Asian immigrants and their children in Norway, three different levels of integration are explained. The first level involves high ethnic identity and low integration and relates to first-generation immigrants who have accepted that a permanent return to their home country is impossible. The second level of integration is related to high ethnic identity and high integration. The individuals in this category are second-generation immigrants who are integrated into Norwegian society, while maintaining a high ethnic identity by strong allegiance to their parental norms and values. The third level is low integration and low ethnic identity and explained in terms of identity crisis, which sometimes causes an internal turmoil and disorientation for many immigrants.

Citation

Ghani, N. (2008), "Integration and the formation of ethnic identity among South Asian immigrants in Norway", Dennis, R.M. (Ed.) Biculturalism, Self Identity and Societal Transformation (Research in Race and Ethnic Relations, Vol. 15), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 189-223. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0195-7449(08)15009-7