The call of ordinariness: peer interaction and superdiversity within the civil sphere

Previous research conducted in Swedish schools and beyond has shown how newly arrived migrant students are excluded by peers from the majority population and by longer-term residents. The novelty of the present article is its focus on the opposite: how peer interaction between newly arrived and othe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of cultural sociology 2023-09, Vol.11 (3), p.337-364
Main Authors: Tajic, Denis, Lund, Anna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
barn- och ungdomsvetenskap med inriktning mot utbildningsvetenskap
Bilingualism
Child and Youth Studies with Focus on Educational Science
conviviality
Habitus
institutional habitus
Labor theory of value
Media Sociology
Middle schools
Migrants
multicultural incorporation
Multiculturalism & pluralism
newly arrived migrant students
Original Article
Peers
Social interaction
Social life & customs
Social Sciences
sociologi
Sociology
Sociology of Culture
Students
superdiversity
the civil sphere
tvåspråkighet
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Summary:Previous research conducted in Swedish schools and beyond has shown how newly arrived migrant students are excluded by peers from the majority population and by longer-term residents. The novelty of the present article is its focus on the opposite: how peer interaction between newly arrived and other students arises in superdiverse school settings and what this interaction means for newly arrived migrant students. A multidimensional theoretical perspective with a focus on social interaction within school is utilized to illuminate the drama of social life. Ideals of the civil sphere, superdiversity, habitus and conviviality are combined, the goal being to create links between macro- and micro-levels. Peer interaction is analyzed as meaningful per se, rather than as an exchange value. This is valuable from a subjective perspective in relation to the notion that being ordinary is a key to belonging. The analysis shows the lived interconnectedness between ideals, institutions, practices, and individuals’ life experiences. The data are drawn from ethnographic fieldwork undertaken during one academic year in two middle schools [högstadiet] and 42 interviews with newly arrived migrant students and school staff in Sweden.
ISSN:2049-7113
2049-7121
2049-7121
DOI:10.1057/s41290-022-00154-5