The Conception of Community
Group Members:
Lykke Hougaard Pedersen
Thomas Falk Bom
Julie Fogt Rasmussen
Josef Hajsen
Mads Alexander Guhle
Nanna Ali
Mikkel Henriksen Panduro
Supervisor: Linni Rita Gad
Social Science International
Basic Studies 21.2
Roskilde University
1st semester, Autumn 2011
Group # 14
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Abstract
The Danish media perceives Mjølnerparken as a community. But the inhabitants of
Mjølnerparken do often not have a say in regards to the discourse in the media. This
project aims to find out if Mjølnerparken is a community and whether the inhabitants
portray themselves as one.
By using the theories of Benedict Anderson and Anthony D. Smith the project will
account for different aspects of a community. Based on interviews, with five inhabitants
of Mjølnerparken, this project will elaborate on the daily life in Mjølnerparken and
additionally prove how the inhabitants view themselves as a group. This project
concludes that the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken recognise themselves as a community.
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Index
Introduction................................................................................................................................................... 5
Problem Area ................................................................................................................................................ 6
Problem Formulation ................................................................................................................................ 7
Research Questions .................................................................................................................................... 8
Project Design ............................................................................................................................................... 8
What is an Ethnical Identity? ............................................................................................................... 10
A Ghetto ........................................................................................................................................................ 11
Why Mjølnerparken? .............................................................................................................................. 12
Consideration of Theories .................................................................................................................... 13
History of Choosing our Theories................................................................................................. 13
Reflections of Method ............................................................................................................................. 14
Scientific Theoretical Position ....................................................................................................... 14
The Method of Deduction ................................................................................................................ 16
Empirical Method................................................................................................................................ 16
The Qualitative Interview ................................................................................................................ 16
Choice of Informants.......................................................................................................................... 17
Interview Guide ................................................................................................................................... 18
Reliability and Validity of Interview Knowledge ................................................................... 20
The Question of Ethic ........................................................................................................................ 20
Our Experiences of the Interviews............................................................................................... 21
Structure and Methods of Analysing ........................................................................................... 23
Chapter 1...................................................................................................................................................... 25
Benedict Anderson – Imagined Communities ......................................................................... 25
Communities According to Anthony D. Smith ......................................................................... 29
Chapter 2...................................................................................................................................................... 34
Analysis According to the Theory of Benedict Anderson ................................................... 34
Part Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 40
Chapter 3...................................................................................................................................................... 41
Analysis of Community in Regards to the Theory of Anthony D. Smith ....................... 41
Part Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 46
Chapter 4...................................................................................................................................................... 47
Discussion of Mjølnerparken based on Theories by Anderson and Smith.................. 47
Chapter 5...................................................................................................................................................... 50
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Analysis of Group Portraying ......................................................................................................... 50
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 55
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................... 58
Books:....................................................................................................................................................... 58
Online newspaper articles: ............................................................................................................. 59
Webpages: .............................................................................................................................................. 60
Verbal sources: ..................................................................................................................................... 61
Appendix ...................................................................................................................................................... 62
Informant 1 ............................................................................................................................................ 63
Informant 2 ............................................................................................................................................ 65
Informant 3 ............................................................................................................................................ 69
Informant 4 ............................................................................................................................................ 77
Informant 5 ............................................................................................................................................ 84
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Introduction
Mjølnerparken is a common housing area established in 1987. Since the establishment
the amount of ethnic Danes has dropped drastically. According to statistics ethnic
Danish inhabitants represented 36 % of the inhabitants in year 1993. In 2006 the
amount had dropped to 7 %. The rest of the inhabitants were from non-western
countries (Ministeriet for Flygtninge, Indvandrere og Integration, (2004) Udsatte
boligområder)
Today there are more than 30 nationalities represented in Mjølnerparken (Københavns
Kommune, (2008) Fødselsdag i Mjølnerparken). Especially people from Arabic speaking
countries, Somalia, and Pakistan are highly represented (Lejerbo, (2003), Nye samtaler I
Mjølnerparken p 5, Lars H. Johansen)
Mjølnerparken is located in the outskirts of Nørrebro in Copenhagen. It consists of 552
households and there lives 2124 people. The average income is 126.183 kr. pr. person,
in comparison to 227.070 kr. pr. person for the rest of Copenhagen. (Københavns
Kommune, (2008) Trivselsundersøgelse I Mjølnerparken p 1, Niras Konsulenterne).
The discourse in the media about ghettoes, places them as a separate community, which
differs from the society of the Danish majority. This can be seen in the former
government’s action plan for 2010, “The Ghetto back to society” (English translation).
The title claims that ghettoes are not a part of the Danish society thereby making it a
community of its own. (Regeringen, (2010) Ghettoen tilbage til samfundet,) But is it just
the media that claims that Mjølnerparken is a community of its own, or is it in fact so?
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Problem Area
In the last decade the debate regarding immigrants has occupied the Medias’ attention,
especially the areas with a big concentration of people with another ethnic background
has been on the agenda. The media places Mjølnerparken as a ghetto where one of the
criteria is that the percentage of immigrants and descendants exceeds 50 %1. This
increased our awareness of Mjølnerparken as an ethnic grouping of immigrants.
The Danish media perceives Mjølnerparken as being a community. The picture the
media creates is often negative and they often refer to Mjølnerparken as a ghetto. The
Danish newspaper, Jyllandsposten2 has a theme page dedicated to ghettoes. Here they
describe ghettoes as parallel communities. So do many other leading newspapers such
as Berlingske Tidende3 and Information4. A simple search of the word ‘Mjølnerparken’ in
the Danish article database Infomedia, shows that there has been 72 articles related to
Mjølnerparken the last 30 days (7th Dec 2011). Out of these 72, 36 of them were
negatively associated including words such as: murder, gang war, crime, attack etc.
However many immigrants feel discriminated by the picture characterised of them in
the Danish media, and they cannot recognise themselves in these descriptions
(Ugebrevet A4, (2008), Med det mediebillede, vi har I dag… Madsen, Tanya Nyrup).
According to a research from Catinet5 17% of immigrants blame the discourse in the
media for discrimination (Ugebrevet A4, (2010), Politikere og medier holder
diskriminationen I kog, Bræmer, Michael).
This is a problem because the media is only focusing on the negative associations with
Mjølnerparken and thereby creating a negative discourse.
But even though the Danish media are perceived as being very reliable (Berlingske,
(2008), DR det mest troværdige nyhedsmedie, Heering, Anders) is this perception of
Mjølnerparken necessarily true? What do the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken think of
themselves and their residential area? However this project will not focus on the
discourse in the media, but instead on the idea of communities, with Mjølnerparken as a
case. The term community does not have one particular definition. Furthermore it has
Criteria for a Ghetto, page 12.
Jyllandsposten, Ghettoland
3 Berlingske Tidende, (2008) Parallelsamfund eksisterer i hele Danmark, Sloth, Søs Lykke
4 Information, (2011) Oprørske unge er ikke kun Englands problem, Riel, O. Redder, H.
5 Independent Think Tank. Has done research for example Ritzau.
1
2
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many aspects which one can use when defining a community, for instance: culture,
religion and relations.
There have been developed different definitions of a community through time, which is
evident in the theory of ‘Imagined Communities’ by Benedict Anderson. Anderson states
that today a community is imagined because a ‘real’ community, which consists of faceto-face relations, has decreased in importance. Thereby it is possible to imagine one
being part of a community where one does not have personal contact with other
members. That is to say that in order for a community to be real it is necessary that the
inhabitants live within the same territorial area.
A relation between Anderson and the media is that people imagine a relationship on the
basis of what they experience through the media. It could be that the negative press
coverage would strengthen the relationship between the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken.
(Anderson, 1991, Chapter 2)
In contrast to Anderson, Anthony D. Smith does not define today’s community as
something that one imagines. His definition emphasises that a community is created by
individuals who have something in common, such as culture, religion and language. He
allocates the shared things great importance. To Smith it is not important to live in the
community that one feels a part of but it is important that the members have a shared
belonging to a specific place, either historical or symbolic. (Smith, 1991: Chapter 1 and
2)
The two theories complement each other in the understanding of Mjølnerparken as a
community. To apply a different approach than usually in the discourse about
Mjølnerparken it could be relevant to look upon this issue from the inhabitants’ point of
view as well. When it comes to whether or not Mjølnerparken is a community, the
inhabitants do after all play a key role.
This leads to the problem formulation.
Problem Formulation
The Danish media perceives Mjølnerparken as a community. However do the inhabitants of
Mjølnerparken recognise themselves as a community?
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Research Questions
-
How do Benedict Anderson and Anthony D. Smith define a community?
-
Is Mjølnerparken a community according to these definitions?
-
How do the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken portray themselves linguistically?
Project Design
This section will elaborate on the project design. It is an elaboration of what the
different chapters will contain, and how they will help us answer our problem
formulation.
First we will have a section where we will account for the different concepts, which will
be used throughout this project; these are the concepts of ghetto and ethnical identity.
These concepts will help the understanding of important aspects of Mjølnerparken.
After this we will account for our methods.
The next section will describe the structure of the chapters and what they contain.
Chapter 1:
This chapter will contain a thorough description of the theories of
Benedict Anderson and Anthony D. Smith. This is relevant because it will
broaden the understanding of a community.
Chapter 2:
In this part of our project there will be an analysis of our empirical data
in order to see how Mjølnerparken can be characterised as a community
according to the theory of Benedict Anderson.
Chapter 3:
The aim of this chapter is similar to chapter two. But in this chapter it
will be an analysis of how Mjølnerparken can be characterised as a
community according to the theory of Anthony D. Smith.
Chapter 4:
In chapter 4 there will be a discussion of how the two theories
characterise Mjølnerparken. In which ways are the theories similar and
where do they differ. This is to gain a better knowledge of what kind of
community Mjølnerparken might be.
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Chapter 5:
Focus will be on the linguistic analysis to see how the inhabitants of
Mjølnerparken portray themselves as a group through the interviews.
We have two approaches; semantics and pragmatics.
Conclusion
The conclusion summarises our findings, according to both the two
theories as well as the linguistic analysis. In this chapter we will
conclude
whether
the
inhabitants
of
Mjølnerparken
recognise
themselves as a community. Here we will also answer the problem
formulation.
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What is an Ethnical Identity?
There are lots of different ethnical identities across the world.
These differences are not of significance until they meet. Different cultures meet when
one ethnic identity migrates to another ethnic identity. Thomas Hylland Eriksen6 states:
“Ethnic identity becomes crucially important the moment it is perceived as being
under threat.” (Eriksen: 2002: 76)
The word ethnicity is a relatively new term that emerged in the 1960’s. Ethnicity is often
used to classify a group of people and their relations within the group and to other
groups. An ethnic group consists of similarities between people in one group and the
differences from people in another group. It is important to emphasise that ethnicity
exists between groups and not within. It is not a ‘property’ of a group, unlike a culture
that may exist within (ibid: 58).
When this term was taken into use there was a main focus on appearance, biology and
where one grew up, but it became wrong to divide people this way because more factors
became influential and race became discriminating as seen under the holocaust in
Germany. Many theorists sought a new way to define groups that was not based on
biological aspects, and there came an increased attention towards the term ethnicity.
Anthony D. Smith agrees in the “new” way of defining ethnical groups. He states that
race has nothing to do with the ethnic communities that he describes.
“In practice, ‘ethnies’ are often confused with races, not only in the social sense but
even in the physical, anthropological sense of subspecies of ‘homo sapiens’ such as
Mongoloid, Negroid, Australoid, Caucasian and the like.” (Smith: 1991: 21)
When defining ethnicity we have chosen to look into the theory of Anthony D. Smith.
Language, myths of descent, history, religion, customs and institutions are all concepts,
which are used about ethnicities in Smith’s theory. One does not need to live up to all of
the concepts to be a part of an ethnic community. However an individual needs to have
at least one of the concepts in common with a community in order to participate in it.
6
Social anthropologist at The University of Oslo
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“An ethnic group is a type of cultural collectivity, one that emphasises the role of
myths of descent and historical memories, and that is recognised by one or more
cultural differences like religion, customs, language or institutions.” (ibid: 20)
Since this definition is so broad it is possible for more ethnic groups to exist under a set
of shared traits such as the above mentioned, and therefore ethnic groups are more
specific than just shared traits. Many anthropologists focus on the social interaction and
social organisation compared to just the shared cultural traits. So it is important to
study ethnicity not only on a cultural level but also on the level of social relations.
(Eriksen: 2002: 36, 58)
Theorists have difficulties in finding one definition for ethnicity. For our project we have
chosen to use the definition of Smith:
“Ethnicity is socially constructed and people have the ability to cut and mix from a
variety of ethnic heritages and cultures to form their own individual or group
identities” (Hutchinson et Smith: 1996:9).
By this we mean that an ethnic group exists on a set of shared traits where we focus on
religion, culture, history, and language.
A Ghetto
“Frequently, people who migrate try to maintain their old kinship and
neighbourhood social networks in the new urban context, and both ethnic quarters
and ethnic political groupings often emerge in such urban settings.” (Eriksen:
2002: 9)
Originally the word ghetto was used under World War 2 to describe the place where the
Jews were forced to live (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary). Already at that time
the word became a negative description of a group of people. Today the word ghetto is
still used to describe a group of similar people, often with negative associations.
The definition of today’s ghetto has changed since 2. World War. In the Danish society
there exists two definitions of ghettoes, both from the Social Ministry. One of them
focuses on the social classes in Denmark, and refers to an area where a large number of
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citizens receive welfare payments and are outside the labour force. (Jyllandsposten, Her
er Danmarks udsatte boligområder)
Since we in our project have a focus on ethnical groupings we have chosen to focus only
on the second definition of a ghetto that is:
This definition of a ghetto is defined by physical interconnected common housings.
There should be at least 1000 inhabitants and two of the three following criteria must
be fulfilled.
1.) The share of immigrants and descendants from non-western countries should
exceed 50 %
2.) The share of inhabitants between the age of 18-64 years without connection to
the labour market or educational system should exceed 40 % as an average over
the last four years
3.) The share of convicted criminals for violation of the penal law, weapon law, or
the law on psychedelic drugs pr. 10.000 inhabitants over the age 18 exceeds 270,
as an average over the last four years
(These three requirements are translated from the publication of the Ministry of social
affairs.) (Socialministeriet, (2010), Liste over ghettoområder per 1 januar 2011)
From this definition there were 26 ghettos in Denmark in year 2010. Mjølnerparken is
classified under this definition, because it fulfils all three requirements, and therefore is
a good example of an ethnic grouping. (Berlingske Tidende, Danmarks 29 ghettoer)
- The share of immigrants and descendants from non-western countries is 93 %.
- 52,8 % of the inhabitants are without connection to the labour market and educational
system.
- 326 inhabitants are convicted of at least one of the three violations.
Why Mjølnerparken?
Mjølnerparken has become the focus of investigation for this project.
We have chosen Mjølnerparken rather than the other 25 ghettos because Mjølnerparken
is the one with the highest amount of inhabitants with different ethnic backgrounds. We
find this particularly interesting because we want to investigate whether the
phenomenon “community” consisting of so many different ethnicities, can be defined as
one.
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Consideration of Theories
History of Choosing our Theories
Several different theorists have been in our consideration through the investigation and
the writing process of this project. Our main theory has become “Imagined
Communities” by Benedict Anderson and Anthony D. Smith’s theory of communities.
During the extensive and intensive period of choosing the right main focus of our
investigation we have been through a broad range of topics. We have been looking at:
-
A case study in Vollsmose
-
Discrimination on the labour market
-
Prejudices within social classes in Denmark, study with 3 high schools
-
National identity –hyphenated Dane
-
Society problem – parallel society
In our former topics we have had difficulties with the requirement of gaining new
knowledge and through our discussions we have discovered that an investigation of
Mjølnerparken was an interesting approach.
Stuart Hall
Stuart Hall works a lot with cultural studies, races and ethnicity. He states that one’s
identity is affected by culture and history. It is not a finished product, but an on-going
production. However he is more focused on the identity especially in concerns to the
individual. It would be relevant to look into the theory of Hall, when looking at the
process of creating an ethnic ghetto. However we have chosen a different aspect. This
project is more concerned to whether the inhabitants recognise themselves as a
community. Since the notion of community is not as clearly defined by Hall, we have
chosen not to use him. (Hall, 2005: 2)
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Reflections of Method
In this chapter we will outline how and why we have gathered empirical data and our
choices of theories. We will describe our methodical approaches based on the theory of
social constructivism. We will explain the relevance of this theory in the understanding
of our main theories in this project: ‘Imagined communities’ by Benedict Anderson and
Anthony D. Smith’s theory of communities.
Scientific Theoretical Position
We have chosen social constructivism as our scientific theoretical position in our project
because this position contributes to the understanding of our two main theories by
Smith and Anderson. Social constructivism is characterised as an opposite to the theory
of Realism. Realism views reality as an objective fact independently of one’s
acknowledgement (Fuglsang et Bitsch: 2009:349). The social constructivism on the
other hand claims that reality is socially constructed by generating knowledge in the
interaction between subjects or between subjects and objects (Åkerstrøm et al:
2005:17). In this context objects applies to physical objects and subjects applies to
thoughts and awareness. It is important to notice the mutual connection between the
two in contrast to Realism that only emphasises the objective view (ibid: 17). This
means that reality is marked by our acknowledgement and interpretations and
simultaneously we are marked by reality. Reality is according to social constructivism
the outcome of different relations in a social and historical context (Fuglsang et Bitsch:
2009: 349). Both Smith and Anderson attribute to the thought of social constructivism
based on the evidence that they both recognise the feeling and desires of communities
as well as the imagined and acknowledgement of it. (Smith:2003:114)
Furthermore we will apply the anti-essentialism position in our project, which states
that individuals as well as society are a part of a social process and thereby no
predetermined nature exists. This results in the fact that reality is changeable and it is
thereby impossible to secure objective acknowledgement. (Fuglsang et Bitsch: 2009:
351).
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The acknowledgement process occurs in a relational interaction. These interactions are
often referred to as language. The status of language as an interaction tool has been
discussed in the world of social constructivism (Åkerstrøm et al: 2005:20). Some social
constructivists focus on a broader area and emphasise the term social conventions.
Social conventions are rules within the interaction between subjects or between
subjects and objects.
“Social constructivism describes, with other words, the content of the meaning,
which is linked to a specific set of relations” (English translation: ibid:20)
Social conventions are for instance culture, knowledge, institutions, traditions, roles,
norms and values etc. (ibid:20). These concepts are not directly linked to language but
emerge from sociology. The concepts try to answer questions about social order and
refer to conventions of social acts and behaviour, which helps to the understanding of
constructing social reality. Thereby not saying that language is not important in the
interaction but rather emphasise that language is not the only social convention which
should be considered. (ibid: 20)
On the other hand many social constructivists do focus on language as the main tool for
interaction. (ibid: 20) According to epistemology in a social constructivist view, two
factors are essential when generating knowledge; a subject who acknowledges and an
object that is acknowledged by a subject.
“Since the concepts are tools of acknowledgement and the concepts necessarily
exist in the language, that of having acknowledged something is synonymous with
the fact to be capable of formulating it linguistically” (English translation:
Fuglsang et Bitsch: 2009: 350).
In our project we agree on the fact that language is important. But we also think that
other social conventions should be considered in the analysis process. In accordance to
Anderson’s theory, language is one of the main attributes because through this media an
‘Imagined Community’ is created.
We have chosen the theory of social constructivism because we support the thoughts of
anti-realism, anti-essentialism and the role of the language as an important tool for
interaction. Additionally these thoughts work well in coherence with our two main
theories. Another basis is how the theory looks upon reality as something constructed.
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We want our interviews to include reflections in regards to our focus area. More specific
we want information about the informant’s life world. On the basis of this we will take
part in the construction of meaning while doing our analysis.
The Method of Deduction
In our analysis we are working through the methodological framework deduction. This
means that we start with a theory and from our empirical data we want to either prove
or disprove if this theory can be applied to the case of Mjølnerparken.
The model of deduction is how we have chosen to shape our project, because we find the
theories of Anderson and Smith interesting and we want to see if their theories are able
to enlighten the issue of Mjølnerparken. (Bitsch et Pedersen: 2011:151).
Empirical Method
We will in the following section introduce our reflections and choices according to our
gathering of empirical data. It will contain an insight of the relevance of qualitative
method in our project, selection of informants, our preparation of making the interview
guide. Lastly we will shed light on our thoughts after the interview.
The Qualitative Interview
Qualitative method is a knowledge producing process. According to Steinar Kvale the
form of knowledge one gains during qualitative interview can differ in two ways:
knowledge collection and knowledge construction. (Kvale: 2009: 48). To illustrate the
two approaches Kvale has set up two opposite metaphors: The ‘miner’ and the ‘traveller’
(ibid: 48). The miner views knowledge as something just waiting to be uncovered,
already existing and thereby it only needs to be collected. By this he means that the
miner seeks to unfold the unconsciousness layers and the miner will obviously influence
the outcome because he has chosen the question asked. The traveller on the other hand
views knowledge as something constructed by the interaction between people. The
knowledge, the traveller gains, in the interaction will often be marked by the traveller’s
own interpretations (ibid: 48). Thereby knowledge will be produced in interaction
between the interviewer and informant during and after the interviews.
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In our project we have chosen to focus on the theory of social constructivism and
therefore we find the traveller approach essential as a tool for our qualitative method.
The most common qualitative methods are observations, focus group interviews and
single interviews. We have chosen to use qualitative single interviews in our project
because we wish to obtain in-depth thoughts about the informants’ experiences of the
life in Mjølnerparken. By this we mean that we would like a life-world interview and
thereby we want to make our questions open so that our informants have the possibility
to reflect upon them. By doing qualitative interviews in a social constructivist view, the
informant as well as the interviewer is contributing to the construction of new
knowledge.
The main goal of using a focus group as qualitative method is to obtain a variety of
viewpoints on a specific topic. The weakness of this method is the risk that some of the
information will be lost because the informants might be influenced by the others’
opinions. Besides that it would not always be possible to go in-depth into each
individual’s experiences. For our project we find the individual’s experiences and
opinions more valuable as empirical data than the shared opinion of a group. This is
because single interviews will give us a more in-depth insight of the personal
experiences of the relation and the life within Mjølnerparken.
Choice of Informants
When doing qualitative interview it is important to reflect upon the criteria for the
choice of informants. Qualitative interview will never be as representative as the
quantitative method, but perhaps more reliable and valid. Moreover one can still try to
make the interview as representative as possible according to sex, age and background.
On the basis of the limited time in the project process we have chosen five informants,
respectively two men and three women. This choice was based on the assumption that
there probably will be differences in the way women and men view their lives, since the
gender role differs significantly due to cultural reasons but also in consideration of
status, education and age, which might influence their answers (Velfærdsministeriet
(2009) At være muslimsk kvinde I Danmark, Maïa, page 10).
We have chosen a specific area, Mjølnerparken, as a case study due to the fact that the
media perceives Mjølnerparken as a community. All the informants should therefore live
within Mjølnerparken. We found it essential for our project that all the informants have
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taken part in the moving process. This means we wish to interview individuals who
have made the choice to move to the ghetto. This indicates that the informants should be
at least 18 years old. Mjølnerparken is an area consisting of inhabitants with different
ethnic backgrounds. This, one should consider before choosing informants. We wished
our informants to have different nationalities but unfortunately we did not manage to
do that. Our informants are all Palestinians and a reason could be due to the fact that the
majority of the inhabitants in Mjølnerparken are Palestinians, refugees from Lebanon.
((Ministeriet for Flygtninge, Indvandrere og Integration, (2004) Udsatte boligområder,
Table 4.1)
We are aware of the cultural differences, which may arise during across-culture
interviews (Kvale: 2009: 144). The relation between the interviewer and informant can
be challenging if the interviewer is not aware of the cultural factors for instance norms
and values. We believe that to secure a good interview it is important to have a relaxed
atmosphere. The relation between interviewer and informant should be comfortable
and therefore knowledge about cultural factors is important. Furthermore some
subjects might be more open for discussion in some cultures than in others. With this in
mind, we have been very cautious when making our interview guide.
Finally, misunderstandings may easily occur because of linguistic differences in different
cultures, which can make the interview go wrong. (ibid: 144) Therefore it is important
to make the questions clear and understandable. We have considered the factor of
language as a possible challenge due to the fact that the informants might have limited
abilities with the Danish language. To avoid this challenge and to get the best possible
answers we wish that our informants have the possibility to express themselves in their
own mother tongue.
This is possible because two members of the project group speak fluently Arabic. This
helps us formulate the questions in a relevant way and gives us a better understanding
of the culture.
Interview Guide
After selecting our informants we have prepared an interview guide. The intention with
the interview guide is to make a frame for the interview. The interview guide will also
work as a tool for the interviewer. The guide is semi-structured because the informants
should have the opportunity to express their views and reflect upon the questions
asked. But on the other hand we wish to keep the focus on the area of investigation. The
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interview guide is based on an overall question: why do ethnic minorities choose to live in
this community and do they have anything in common? To answer this question we have
formulated six sub-questions. The questions are semi-open, which means that our
informants have the opportunity to tell whatever they find interesting within this
question-area. This gives us an in-sight in their associations according to the question.
We also wish to avoid leading the informants to a specific answer. However we are
aware that it is possible that the answers will be marked by our presence. If the
informants know too much about the project beforehand, it is possible that they will tell
us what they believe we would like to hear. To avoid this we will not tell our informants,
about our further analysis and investigation, before after the interview. Instead we will
inform them that we wish to unfold the life in Mjølnerparken. In any case the
interviewer must always be critical to the quality of the interview.
Our success criterion for the interview is to figure out whether there exists a community
within Mjølnerparken. We wish to shed light on whether the inhabitants share a
common culture. To clarify we wish to investigate whether the inhabitants have
anything in common, their social relation and participation in social events in
Mjølnerparken. This will help us in the further analysis and in the end help answering
our problem formulation.
Before starting the interview process it is important to figure out what to be aware of.
Because of the media’s negative portraying of Mjølnerparken our informants might
distance themselves from this picture. To avoid that our informants feel stereotyped we
have made our questions as semi-open as possible in regards to our investigation.
The first question is designed to get an overview of the informant’s reasons of moving to
Mjølnerparken. The next is an open question where the informants have an opportunity
to express their feelings and relations towards their neighbours. The third question is
more specific which should give us an idea of their participation in social events in
Mjølnerparken. The following question is again open but with some guidelines in order
to clarify the question. This will help us elaborating on what the inhabitants in
Mjølnerparken have in common. The fifth question is more specific, and gives an idea of
the informants relations towards people who speak another language than them. The
last question is formulated in a broad sense to gain an understanding of the informant’s
thoughts in accordance to their future in Mjølnerparken.
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To sum up we have made four more or less open questions and two more specific. We
have done this to attain a life-world-interview but also to get more concrete answers.
This will be the basis for our further analysis.
Furthermore we find it important for our further investigation to pay attention to
whether our informants use specific possessive pronouns. We have made a list:
community, our area, our community, our people, the others, them, the Danes, insider,
outsider etc. These terms will be used in a linguistic analysis in the project to reflect
whether the inhabitants portray themselves as a group.
Reliability and Validity of Interview Knowledge
When collecting empirical data through interviews, the concepts of reliability and
validity arise. These terms are always crucial for the construction of knowledge in
interviews and later on in the project. But firstly, these terms must be detailed;
reliability implies to the trustworthiness of research findings and validity refers to truth
and correctness of a statement. (Kvale: 2009: 246).
While working with the interviews and thereby constructing knowledge, it is needed to
measure the reliability and validity of our data. This means that we must be critical
towards the statements presented during the interviews. Other factors must also be
taken into consideration; for instance regarding the transcription and the analysis of
interviews. According to the validity in the transcription process there might occur
some different phrasing because of the translation from Arabic to English and from
Danish to English, which cannot be avoided. The transcription of the interviews in
Danish was sometimes hard to understand because of the informants “limited” sentence
structure in the Danish language. Taking this into consideration we find the interviews
valid for our analysis due to the fact that we checked the transcription twice by getting a
group member, who was not present during the interviews, to listen through the
recorded tape and compare it with the transcription.
The Question of Ethic
When choosing a qualitative method it is important to reflect upon ethical questions
from the very beginning to the final rapport. A universal rule of ethics does not exist. But
according to Aristotle a set of rules is not what is needed but instead you need to know
of phronesis. (ibid: 67) Phronesis is about the ability to recognise value-laden situations
and respond to it in a proper way. When doing interviews it is crucial to know this
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ability in order to handle ethic and sensitive situations. These are issues, which may
arise during an interview. We will therefore look into issues such as informed consent,
confidentially and the role of the interviewer. (ibid: 67)
Informed consent is concerned with the information the interviewer needs to pass on to
the informant before the interview starts. First of all one needs to present the purpose of
the project and thereby the informants right to withdraw from the project at any time.
Furthermore we found it important to emphasise that their personal information would
be kept confidential but that some of their answers will be quoted in our project.
The role of the interviewer is also crucial. First of all it is very important that the
interviewer has a broad knowledge about the subject. Next it is important to reflect
upon what value-laden issues may arise within this topic. As mentioned in the section
about across-culture interview, there might be some subjects that are too sensitive and
thereby not ethical correct to ask about. Within our investigation area we did not find
any particular theme ethical incorrect due to the fact that our questions were not
emotive. Our questions were not related to crime or unemployment, which are subjects
that could be inappropriate.
The interviewer has the task to lead the informant through the interview. Therefore it is
very important that the interviewer keeps a professional distance to the informants
because of the possibility that too close ties can affect the interviewer’s interpretation of
the situation.
Our Experiences of the Interviews
All the interviews were held in the beginning of week 49, in a time interval from noon
until 8 pm. The duration of each interview varied from 8 minutes and up to 29 minutes.
Significantly, the men were talking the most. 4 out of the 5 interviews were recorded by
a dictaphone. Informant 1 (woman) did not want to be recorded, which we of course
accepted due to the ethical approach. This means that we cannot directly quote
informant 1 in our project. We still find her answers valuable because they can support
the answers of the others. The interviews took place in the informants’ home, which we
believe made an atmosphere where the informants felt safe and comfortable. A
characteristic observation through 4 out of the 5 interviews was that other family
members were observing the interview, which might be due to cultural reasons. This
may have influenced the informants’ answers. But we do not believe that the presence of
the family had any impact on the answers due to the fact that it was often the children
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who were present and that it seemed that the informants felt comfortable by having the
family around.
Two from the group were represented while doing the interview; one with a Danish
background as an observer and one with another ethnic background as the interviewer
due to linguistic advantages.
First of all we found it interesting how the informants directed their attention to the
Dane when speaking about specific topics. For instance one of the informants looked at
the Dane and said “sorry”, because she was going to say something negative about
Danish people. Whereas when she told about Arabic traditions or Arabic countries the
informant addressed the answers toward the interviewer with another ethnic
background. This might be because they feel more related to the interviewer and they
might wish to gain a mutual understanding.
Another characteristic notion was in the third interview. The informant kept a distance
to almost all our questions. By this we mean that he spoke in general, by using terms as
“immigrants in general” a lot. Thereby we could assume that he didn’t want to be
exposed as the “typical stereotype” of an immigrant or inhabitant from Mjølnerparken,
which is exposed in the media. The informants also talked about prejudices and argued
against “typical” prejudices of Mjølnerparken even though it wasn’t the question at all.
This could indicate that he wants to portray Mjølnerparken in positive way.
All in all we gathered valuable and useful information. We will now go a step further and
use this new constructed knowledge in our analysis in the project.
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Structure and Methods of Analysing
We have chosen to look into the model of a thematic analysis. This we have chosen
because we find it relevant when analysing our interviews. The structure we have
chosen consists of the following 4 main phases:
1) Categorisation
2) Condensation of meaning
3) Comparison and combination across the interviews
4) Final conclusion and answering of problem formulation
(Kristensen: 2007: 290)
Categorisation
Our main category is communities where we have three main sub-categories: Benedict
Anderson, Anthony D. Smith and group portraying.
Under these sub-categories there are different themes. These themes will be elaborated
in the different chapters. According to the structure one should categorise quotes in this
phase. However we are applying two theories to the same empirical data and therefore
we do not find it relevant to categorise the quotes.
Condensation of Meaning
Here there will be a summary of everything in the interview that is relevant for the
project. There will not be any interpretations in this phase. The summary are listed after
each interview in the appendix.
Comparison and Combination Across the Interviews
Under each theme the empirical material is compared according to similarity and
differences. After that there ought to be an analysis and part conclusion, but due to the
fact that there is not a big difference in the statements of our informants, we have
chosen to skip this part and go straight to the analysis.
Here the theories will be applied and accounted for how they can contribute to
answering the problem formulation. Each theory has been dedicated a chapter in order
to make a more thorough analysis of the interviews.
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Final Conclusion and Answering of the Problem Formulation
This is the final analysis. Here the sub-categories will be brought together in one
conclusion. The conclusion will also include an answering of our problem formulation.
When analysing the group portraying inside of Mjølnerparken we find the linguistic
analysis method relevant. Here we will focus on the informant’s choices of words such
as “We”, “I”, “Them” and other pronouns. Analysing the use of linguistic features in the
statements may give a better understanding and generate new knowledge. Linguistic
expressions will help the interpreter bring in different nuances. (Kvale,: 2009: 220)
There are different ways of making a linguistic analysis. We have chosen to make a
linguistic analysis in regards to meaning. Meaning refers to both the literal and
nonliteral meaning of the context.
Within the linguistic study of meaning there are two main fields: semantics and
pragmatics.
“Semantics focuses on the literal meanings of words, phrases, and sentences; it is
concerned with how grammatical processes build complex meanings out of simpler
ones.” (Portner: 2006; 137)
Here the focus is on the exact literal meaning of what has been said. One does not look at
what is actually implied. What is actually implied is also called the speaker’s meaning.
Speaker’s meaning leads us to pragmatics.
“Pragmatics is fundamentally about how the context of use contributes to meaning,
both semantic meaning and speaker’s meaning.” (ibid: 137)
Semantics and pragmatics will be used when analysing group portraying. Here it is
important to look at what words the informants use, to see if the inhabitants of
Mjølnerparken portray themselves as a group. We will use the pragmatic approach to
look into a deeper meaning of the statements of the informants. Here we will look at the
meaning of the statements both in regards to words and entire sentences.
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Chapter 1
Benedict Anderson – Imagined Communities
Using Anderson in this project will help broaden the understanding of communities. The
theory of ‘Imagined Communities’ describes how communities are socially constructed.
Anderson understands imagined communities as the creator of nationalism. According
to the theory of Benedict Anderson, a nation e.g. Denmark is nothing but a community of
people, socially constructed by those who perceive themselves as a part of it.
It is imagined because a non-imagined community would be based on everyday face-toface interactions. This means that people living in Copenhagen still feel some kind of
belonging with those from Aarhus, even though we do not actually meet people from
Aarhus. We may never see anyone in our imagined community but we still know they
are there through communication and the media. This, Anderson says, is partly because
of the invention of the printing press and later on the media in general. This makes it
possible for us to be a part of it, and develop these imagined communities (Anderson
1991: chapter 3).
We do not need the face-to-face interactions in the same sense as before, because the
potential of the media and communication give us knowledge about the whole world.
The lack of real relations (face-to-face relations) means that, these communities are
imagined in the way that we have a mental image and understanding of our belonging,
which can be experienced at e.g. the World Cup, The Olympics etc.
Here people sit together and cheer with people they do not know, on a team they do not
know either, but this is because we imagine that we have relations to each other.
A nation can therefore be understood in this way:
“A nation is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never
know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the
minds of each lives the image of their sameness” (ibid: 6).
This again underlines the fact that the imagined communities are indeed socially
constructed.
Anderson contributes the creation of ‘Imagined Communities’ to two major forces. First
the decay of the cultural systems and second the change of the apprehension of time and
place. Anderson operates with two different types of Cultural systems, “the religious
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community” and “the dynastic community” (ibid: 12). The religious community; has
common concepts within each religion, which will be the same no matter where a
believer may live. In common for all these religions was that all the religions had holy
scripts and languages. Both the language and these scripts were unique to the religion.
Thereby bringing a sense of common ground to believers, whenever they would meet
face-to-face and this will result in an establishment of a “community” of some sort. The
most obvious example is the Islamic understanding of Ummah (which means
community in Arabic).
This religious community got disbanded because of two factors according to Anderson.
First the beginning of exploring meant that explorers all of a sudden travelled to meet
new people and civilisations (ibid: 17). Anderson argues that this creates a need for
defining them and thereby also a need for defining us.
Here implying that them represents the people and civilisations that the colonial powers
(Western society) encountered.
His second argument was that up through the 1500 century, the language used in
popular slowly changed from Latin to the mother tongue. To this Anderson credits
Martin Luther and his work of translating the Bible and spreading Protestantism. These
factors led to the lack of religion as a combining force, that united people, especially in
the western countries (ibid: 18).
The second cultural system is the dynastic realm, a cultural system that also precedes
the nation. It is the belief in the ruling power, the monarchies to be absolute and often
divine, along with the understanding of sovereignty and heritage claim. (ibid: 19)
Monarchies would often have vague borders that differentiated now and then, but still
some kind of pre-nation unity existed.
The other force that, according to Anderson, has an effect upon creating our imagined
community is the apprehension of time. Our apprehension of time has partly changed,
because of the media, which has led to a calendrically homogenous time (ibid: 24). The
understanding of time and place as something related to the calendar is shown, for
example in the way newspapers describe events happening in other places.
Newspapers’ descriptions also brings along a feeling of connection and understanding of
the event and people described, in such a manner that one might feel connected to it, in
some way. The description of somebody treated badly at a workplace is written, in such
a way that most people will be able to identify with it. Because it is what makes the
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paper sell, but this in effect also creates this shared feeling of connection to something
we basically are completely unrelated to.
The fall of the religious and dynastic systems along with the changing conception of
time, is what has created this understanding of imagined communities. Although not
completely replaced, they have now more or less become a part of the imagined
community according to Anderson, also becoming a part of the foundations of a nation.
(ibid: Chapter 2)
Anderson also puts a great deal of importance into the use of language, especially what
he describes as the vernacular language. That is the language of the people, that the
popular understood. This, he states, is because of the importance of language as a way to
communicate. As well as the effect language has on creating a sense of communality7
among people (ibid: 134). An example to describe the importance of language and the
vernacular could be how Norway, at that time belonging to Denmark, was able to create
their own grammar, because of the distinct pronunciations. Hereby developing a need
for their own unique Norwegian print-language, which Anderson describes as being the
basis of the emerging nationalism (ibid: 75).
He also contributes much of the language’s importance to the fact that folklore, epic
poetry and national epics in effect of the distinct language are creating communality.
Language is the medium through which a community is imagined, thereby not meaning
that the specific language is creating it, or as Anderson puts it:
“Language is not an instrument of exclusion: in principle, anyone can learn any
language. On the contrary, it is fundamentally inclusive, limited only by the fatality
of Babel: no one lives long enough to learn all languages.” (ibid: 134)
The point Anderson argues, is not that every English-speaking person necessarily is a
part of the imagined community of England, but that it opens up for the possibility to be
a part of it. In addition language is not locked to one imagined community, but can
indeed be the medium for several, e.g. the Australian, English, American etc. This has in
the later years greatly improved, as the mass media has created an easy way to conjure
the imagined community to the greater population, also the illiterate.
As a result of this, the educational system is also a part of creating imagined
communities. This is not only because it teaches the medium through which it is
communicated, the language, but also because of the imagined community directly
7
The sense of belonging and solidarity.
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created through the educational institutions. This is for example the teachings of the
nation-state’s boundaries in geography, historical events and culture in history etc. all
defining what is special and specific in the particular imagined community. (ibid:
chapter 7)
Part Conclusion
To sum up this chapter, Anderson explains the concept of Imagined Communities and
how they are becoming more crucial because of the lack of face-to-face interactions.
People feel a belonging to people they have never met because one imagines a belonging.
This is in part an effect of the mass media. He also argues that cultural systems are
decaying because the dynastic and religious communities are becoming less important.
In Anderson’s theory language is ascribed an important role, because it is the medium
for communication between people, and it is through the language a community is
imagined.
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Communities According to Anthony D. Smith
According to Anthony D. Smith there are different definitions of communities: Religious,
Political and Ethnic communities. (Smith: 1991: 6, 9, 21) All three kinds of communities
have roots in a territorial area. This chapter aims to investigate what Smith means by a
territorial area and after that clarifying his definition of the three aspects of a
community.
Smith states that a community has a common connection to a territorial bounded area.
Within this territorial bounded area the people have a sense of belonging. Thereby the
people and the territory belong to each other. This belonging stems from the history,
hereby implying that it is the historic land of the people that has been living there
through generations. But a community is not necessarily linked to where one is resided,
but instead to the place of origin. The people of the different territorial areas feel a
belonging because of different attachments and associations.
“It is the attachments and associations, rather than residence in our possession of
the land that matters for ethnic identification. It is where we belong. It is also often
a sacred land, the land of our forefathers, our lawgivers, our kings and sages, poets
and priests, which makes this our homeland. We belong to it, as much as it belongs
to us.” (ibid: 23)
Hereby implying that communities and sense of belonging are related to ancestry and
history. Apart from communities being linked to a territorial bounded area, Smith
defines three aspects of communities. The definitions of these will now be clarified.
Religious Community:
Smith says that a religious community consists of religious identities that form together
in a community. The religious identity is based on “values, symbols, myths, and traditions,
often codified in custom and ritual.” (ibid: 6)
This defines a religious community as based on individuals that share the same religion
joining together in one community. In regards to the religious community the
mentioned territory may be symbolic, in the sense that they belong to a common
religious territory, such as Mecca.
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Political Community:
“A political community in turn implies at least some common institutions and a
single code of rights and duties for all the members of the community. It also
suggests a definite social space, a fairly well demarcated and bounded territory,
with which the members identify and to which they feel they belong.” (ibid: 9)
There are institutional frames for the territorial bounded area. Here the people of the
community have to obey the common laws within the institutional frames.
However Smith’s definition of political communities are especially concerned with rights
and laws, but we do not find these codes relevant in the case of Mjølnerparken, since
Mjølnerparken does not have its own laws and is subjected to the existing Danish
legislation. Yet the political community, as a term, is primarily applied when talking
about a nation. (ibid: 40)
Ethnic Community:
An ethnic community consists of ethnic identities, which have a common culture.8
According to Smith an ethnic community is ascribed six main attributes. (ibid: 21)
1) A collective proper name
2) A myth of common ancestry
3) Shared historical memories
4) One or more differentiating elements of culture
5) An association with a specific ‘homeland’
6) A sense of solidarity for significant sectors of the population
The more of the above mentioned attributes a group possesses the closer the ethnic
community comes to being the ideal type.
One of the most important attributes, in an ethnic community, is a shared historical and
mythical origin. Ancestry is an important factor because it is the very foundation of an
ethnic identity. One needs to have an acknowledgement about one’s origin of ancestry in
order to define one’s identity. Smith emphasises the fact that these mythical and
historical bonds, which ethnic identities possess, create a feeling of being in a ‘family’.
Shared myths of common ancestry enforce the survival of an ethnicity, and without
these the ethnicity will dissolve. (ibid: 22)
8
As described on page 11.
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Culture is also an important attribute of an ethnic community. The culture within an
ethnic community does not need to be similar for all members but merely have some
elements of a common culture. A culture within one ethnic community does often
distinguish from another, for instance regards to language, religion, customs, and
institution. According to Smith the overall view of ethnic communities are the same, but
when language, religion, customs and institution come into play, the different
communities are distinguished from one another. (ibid: 23)
As mentioned earlier, Smith states that a community is a territorially bounded area. One
of the attributes of an ethnic community is; an association with a specific ‘homeland’.
“Whether you stayed in your community or emigrated to another, you remained
ineluctably, organically, a member of the community of your birth and were forever
stamped by it.” (ibid: 11)
Hereby Smith states that one will always be linked to one’s country of origin.
On the other hand, a ‘homeland’ in an ethnic community can also be of a symbolic
character. By this Smith means that one can feel a sense of belonging to a country, which
has an important meaning for oneself, for instance religiously. (ibid: 9)
The last attribute is about solidarity. Loyalty towards the community is considered as a
significant factor within the ethnic communities. The feeling of identifying with one
another and considering the community as a family is a major factor when describing
solidarity. If solidarity is subordinated, the survival of the community is challenged.
Individuals will most likely form new ethnic communities, and hereby undermine the
original community. (ibid: 24)
Throughout Smith’s theory of ethnic communities he states that there are certain
similarities between a nation and ethnic communities. In order to clarify the differences
one needs to compare the two.
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Ethnie
Nation
A collective proper name
A collective proper name
A myth of common ancestry
Common myths and historical memories
Shared historical memories
Shared history
One or more differentiating elements Common mass public culture
of culture
An
association
with
a
specific Resided in ones homeland
‘homeland’
A sense of solidarity for significant Common rights and duties
sectors of the population
Common economy
Table: Ethnies and nations characteristics. (English translation: Smith: 2003: 27)
According to the table above, nation and ethnic communities are both characterised
with common myths and historical memories. Both are connected to a specific territory,
yet the difference is that the ethnic communities’ connection to the ‘homeland’ may only
be historical or symbolic. (Smith 1991:40) This also emphasises that according to the
nation the residents need to live within the territorial borders.
Furthermore the people within ethnic communities do not need to have mass public
culture as in a nation, however only some elements of a shared culture, for instance
language, religion and traditions. (Smith: 2003: 27)
An obvious difference between the two terms is the economic aspect. The economics in
a nation is based on a common economy, whereas ethnic communities are not.
Lastly it is important to emphasise that, according to Smith’s theory of communities, it is
in modern society common to see different ethnic communities within a nation. (ibid:
28)
To sum up Smith’s three definitions: religious, political and ethnic communities are in
different ways territorial bounded. This can be historically (geographically) as well as
symbolic. A religious community is recognised as a community in which the religious
beliefs are shared by the individuals. A political community is based upon a code of
rights and obligations, and is subjected to a superior legislation. An ethnic community
has 6 attributes, for instance a proper common name. Mythology and history play a
significant factor, when talking about the shared identity in an ethnic community,
because it evokes a feeling of being in a ‘family’, in which solidarity is essential. The
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members of an ethnic community do not necessarily need to have a similar culture but
some shared cultural components such as religion.
It is important to understand the differences between an ethnic community and a
nation. A nation is defined the same way as an ethnic community in the sense of
mythical and historical belonging to a homeland. The members of a nation need to be
resided within the nation. A nation is built upon a common legislation and economy,
whereas an ethnic community is not. It is vital to underline that the existence of ethnic
communities can occur within a nation.
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Chapter 2
Analysis According to the Theory of Benedict Anderson
In this chapter we will analyse whether or not the theoretical aspects of Anderson’s
imagined communities can be used to describe Mjølnerparken as an imagined
community. Taking this theory into perspective, we want to shed a light on whether
there exists an imagined community within, or if Mjølnerparken does not fit these
theoretical requirements.
Anderson’s theory states that the media has taken over most of the face-to-face
interaction. Through these interactions we get a mental image of belonging through
different events and as a result we create our imagined community. Anderson explains
it like this: time and space are related and through the media we are all able to identify
with different happenings.
This was a short introduction of the theory we want to use for the analysis of the
interviews.
Media has substituted most face-to-face presentations. If the media tells a story the
news will be read by many readers. In face-to-face relations some information will often
fade because the news travels from individual to individual by an oral presentation.
A sense of belonging is essential when we talk about face-to-face interaction, or as
Anderson defines it communality. But when do people feel this communality? We will try
to analyse this question with our empirical data and theory of Benedict Anderson. It is
important to divide this face-to-face interaction in two positions: a media and event. It
makes sense because we find statements about both in our interviews.
“The women meet in the clubs or here, and then I leave and visit my friends. We
meet almost every day with our friends. You don’t need to have relationship to all
your neighbours, but you need to know them.” (Informant 4)
Here informant 4 describes what at first might look like these so called face-to-face
interactions. According to Anderson the face-to-face interaction is decreasing because of
the media’s influence. But the everyday interaction between the inhabitants of
Mjølnerparken, in their different associations, indicates that the face-to-face interaction
is still important.
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On the basis of this thought one could argue that there is an uprising in regards to the
face-to-face interaction. But on the other hand the media gives the inhabitants a closer
relation to their background because they can follow the news in their country of origin
and hereby prove Anderson’s theory of an imagined community.
In the quote, it is described how the women meet up, so they all in principal have faceto-face relations. Although on the other hand informant 4 also mentions how you do not
need to have a personal relationship with everybody in Mjølnerparken, but you do need
to know them. This could be seen as a divergence to the idea of the relations having
changed, when apparently informant 4 implies that there is a need to know everybody.
But it is the use of the word know, that is remarkable. It could be argued that the feeling
of knowing someone is indeed what is described by the word communality, thereby
implying that one should know everybody in Mjølnerparken. The term know is in this
case not the understanding of knowing people on a personal level, as much as feeling
that one knows them.
“These types, I don’t find anywhere else. I feel it. We need each other. We help each
other. Gives each other advises.” (Informant 3)
In this quote, informant 3 describes how he is not able to find “these types “of people, in
other places than Mjølnerparken, something that clearly is distancing this imagined
community from those of others. What is interesting is that this informant earlier in the
interview claims to only know some of the people in Mjølnerparken (Informant 3).
Hereby implying that he automatically conjures a picture of what the rest of the
inhabitants are like, they are like him. Something he concludes without having any data
to support this.
These quotes show some kind of relation in form of social structure, norms and values.
Even though the inhabitants in Mjølnerparken did not know each other before, they still
have an imagined relation because of their religion, background, nationality etc.
According to Anderson these relations can be seen all over in the globalised world. This
means that even though two Palestinians do not know each other, they will still have
something in common and in larger groups they will create a community according to
Anderson’s an imagined community.
This is a general occurrence that we have extracted from the interviews. Even though
the informants have no knowledge of all of the inhabitants, they all imagine that the part
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of Mjølnerparken that they do not know, are like them, they have some imaginations of
what they are.
Of course this is also due to the fact that the population of Mjølnerparken does indeed
have many of the same norms and values. This is also evident in the interviews.
“Religion affects our lives a lot in here. It does because we are Muslims and there
are a lot of norms. We remind each other about these norms regarding religion. If
someone doesn’t understand a lot about these norms then we try to explain what
you are supposed to do. We have norms regarding marriage of our kids. There is a
“roadmap” we follow. We tell them that it could be the right way if they don’t know
how these norms will be observed.”(Informant 4)
This quote demonstrates the close relationship between having the same norms and
being an inhabitant in Mjølnerparken. The informant states that there is some kind of
distinctive norms and values that belong to Mjølnerparken and the inhabitants within.
There is apparently a kind of distance between these norms and those outside. This is
indeed underlining how they identify themselves as individuals and as a group,
according to the values and norms. Every informant explicitly mentions (often more
than once), how important it is that the values and norms are the same. This is in fact a
very important thing, the inhabitants feel, when defining themselves.
Furthermore the importance that Anderson attributes to language as the medium,
through which the imagined community is created, is also something that is evident in
Mjølnerparken. The fact that 93% of the inhabitants are from non-western countries,
does of course create a distinct situation. As underlined by this quote:
“Because understand that language is the communication between you and people.
Understand you and understand them. But if you don’t you have a problem. And
this is the problem, over here people know each other, same mentality…”
(Informant 3)
The fact that the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken all have access to the same medium
enables the imagined community. This is also very important because of the fact that
this medium is exclusive to the Muslim inhabitants of Mjølnerparken. When using the
language as a medium as Anderson describes it, could elucidate the creation of this
distinct imagined community.
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The theory of Anderson states that religion is one of two factors when defining an
imagined community. The other part is the dynastic community. But in this project we
chose not to look upon the dynastic community. As Anderson mentions there needs to
be a monarchy. Because of the fact that we did not find any monarchy in the community
of Mjølnerparken, we do not find it relevant to look into.
By looking at the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken it is clear that the majority of them are
Muslims. Since 1993 several inhabitants from the Middle East have moved to the area,
meaning the majority of new-comers are also of the Islamic religion.
By analysing this subject it is relevant to look at potential reasons for why they chose to
live together in the same area. One of these reasons could be religion.
Not only is language important as mentioned above, it is also a remnant from the Islamic
religion, along with some of the distinctive norms that these inhabitants speak of.
Anderson speaks of the religious system as something that has faded away, but this is
not in the case in this situation.
“Of course we also have the factor of religion, which is a very big part of our lives.”
(Informant 4)
This quote summarises the general statement of the informants, in accordance to
whether or not religion is important. Every informant emphasises how Mjølnerparken is
tied together especially by a shared religion. This is in sharp contrast to Anderson’s
theory, and how he describes the religious system as replaced. This might be the case in
the nation-states that Anderson usually investigates with his theory, seeing that religion
through the reformation has been of lesser importance in the Western-Europe nationstates. In Mjølnerparken on the other hand, the religious system seems to be
represented because of the strong religious ties that obviously exist within.
“She lives in the Muslims area. And we tried to talk to her: “If you hate Muslims, why
do you live here. Most of the people here are Muslims, I think you should move.”
(Informant 2)
It is clear that the common denominator in this connection is in fact religion, in this case
Islam. This means that even though everyone in Mjølnerparken does not know each
other they still have something in common in effect of their religion and are able to
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identify themselves with each other through this, because they are able to recognise the
religion in their neighbour.
The religion makes the inhabitants feel safe because they have the same norms as they
had when they lived in their home countries. As seen in informant 2’s answers about
living among a majority of Danes, she mentions how religion binds them together,
through the norms and values. It is something that makes these people prefer
Mjølnerparken instead of choosing an area with a majority of ethnic Danish inhabitants.
The religion gives an opportunity to make social events where the inhabitants come
together and share their common religion e.g. at the Islamic fasting period, Ramadan,
and the holiday Eid. The fast can be challenging for Muslims living in non-Muslim areas,
because they do not have much support from friends and family. However that is not the
case in Mjølnerparken where there is a great support from friends, family and
neighbours. For the majority of the inhabitants, the interviews conclude that it is easier
since they support each other. It is also common to celebrate Iftar9 where the
inhabitants show up and eat together. This is a coming together and creation of a feeling
of communality that is created through the religious bond. This exact social bond would
not be possible in the case of a religiously mixed community.
“It means a lot, for example in Eid, we don’t feel different. All our neighbours do the
same.” (Informant 2)
Anderson mentions in his theory that a community is established by two factors. It is to
have a common religious holy script and language. Even though Anderson in his
explanation of his theory states that this religious community has faded out, and thereby
being partly replaced by imagined communities, the specific group of people who are
the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken do in fact have this. This can be seen in the way that
informant 1 describes the social gatherings for example the religious holidays. When
asked she did not only describe herself, but the whole Mjølnerparken as one. Informant
3 supports informant 1.
“..And to the Eid-party we are all there” (Informant 3)
Furthermore informant 2, describes Mjølnerparken as a Muslim area, identifying herself,
as well as the community by religion, indicating that there is indeed this religious
community. Another common denominator is the use of Arabic as a common language.
9
The dinner after sunset in Ramadan
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Many Middle Eastern countries have Arabic as their native tongue, resulting in
Mjølnerparken’s inhabitants being strongly influenced by this. It is debateable whether
there is an Ummah in Mjølnerparken as earlier mentioned because the majority of the
inhabitants are Muslims and speaks Arabic.
“Yeah, we have the same religions, traditions and all that”. (Informant 2)
That the religion of Islam is a unifying bond is clearly stated in the above mentioned
quotation, even though there are several religions represented in Mjølnerparken, not
only Islam. As mentioned, the religious community is not the only part of the cultural
systems that precedes the nation. The other part is the dynastic community. But as
earlier stated, we have chosen not to look into the dynastic community in this project. As
Anderson emphasises there needs to be a monarchy. Because of the fact that we did not
find any monarchy in the community of Mjølnerparken, we do not find it relevant to look
into.
What has been obvious, going through the accumulated data, is that they do indeed feel
a sense of belonging. A clear example of this could be this quote from informant 3:
“Yes yes, of course, just like mercury. It is just like immigrants. The problem is when
you have it and put on the table and they will split. When you move one they stick
together. “(Informant 3)
This comparison is a great example of how the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken are seen by
themselves as a cohesive imagined community. The same informant describes that these
people are simply just different from the majority of the Danes:
“That is the reason why, do you understand, some animal, you cannot put a camel
together with a donkey. Do you understand? Camels with camels and donkeys with
donkeys and dogs with dogs. Do you understand? This is natural. It isn’t something
you can change.” (Informant 3)
According to this informant, there is simply nothing to do, because we are different and
it is not something that we can change.
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Part Conclusion
In our accumulated analysis of the gathered data along the lines of Anderson’s theory of
imagined communities, we can conclude that in fact some of these distinct criteria are
fulfilled within Mjølnerparken. It is evident that there is a feeling of communality as well
as belonging within. The inhabitants of Mjølnerparken have created an imagined
community through the language, which is exclusive for the inhabitants, compared to
the greater population. Furthermore they, in sense of their religious unity, has a shared
cultural and historical past.
However it should be mentioned that in some ways Mjølnerparken does not fulfil all of
the requirements made by Anderson. The religious system as mentioned is indeed of
importance in this relation. Furthermore the idea of the face-to-face relations as having
less importance is also something that we can conclude is not the case in Mjølnerparken.
According to the data we have accumulated, we can conclude that the concept of
imagined communities is evident in Mjølnerparken.
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Chapter 3
Analysis of Community in Regards to the Theory of Anthony D.
Smith
The aim of this chapter is to illustrate whether Mjølnerparken can be defined as a
community in regards to Anthony D. Smith’s definition of communities. Our analysis will
be based on his definition of religious and ethnic communities. We have chosen not to
use Smith’s definition of political communities because these kinds of communities are
founded on a common legislation, for all members, which is not the case within
Mjølnerparken. To do this we will examine subjects such as religious bonds, cultural
components, and common ancestry of the inhabitants within Mjølnerparken. The
analysis will be based on interviews of five inhabitants of Mjølnerparken.
Common Ancestry and History
Smith states that all communities originates from a bounded territory and hereby
members of the community will feel a sense of belonging to this specific territory. A
report published by the Municipality of Copenhagen, shows that 93 % of the inhabitants
of Mjølnerparken are immigrants or descendant of immigrants. (Københavns Kommune:
2008, Trivselsundersøgelsen: 1) This means that the majority of the inhabitants must be
of another origin than Denmark.
“So it’s kind of a way we have learned to live by. If you want to survive, you should
start with your own [people]. We are the first generation. I came here alone. My
family is still living in Lebanon. When we lived outside with the Danes, we felt that
we were missing something. I felt it very strongly after I got married; I am missing
something. The support from my own”. (Informant 4)
The quotation above emphasises the informant’s strong bond to his country of origin.
His family still lives in Lebanon, which might be the reason why he feels he is missing
something. He feels an emotional belonging to this territorial area. In addition he also
uses the term “our countries” referring to the countries which are represented within
Mjølnerparken. He indicates that parts of what he is missing from his homeland have
been recovered within the boundaries of Mjølnerparken.
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“That [support and security] are the kind of things we miss from our countries and
you couldn’t find if you were living outside Mjølnerparken” (Informant 4)
According to Smith’s theory a territorial bounded area are not only perceived as a
geographical place but can also be seen as a symbolic area which one feels linked to in
one’s mind-set, for instance religiously.
“That is why I am really happy. I went to Hajj [Muslims’ pilgrimage to Mecca] last
year.” (Informant 2)
One of the informants went to Hajj in 2010. This could indicate that she feels a sense of a
belonging to Mecca, which is a crucial historical and religious area for Muslims. The
informants do not a have a physically territorial relation to this specific place. However
through history and religious traditions the informants have socially constructed a
belonging to Mecca. This is in consistence with Smith’s definition of a member of a
religious community.
Religious Bonds
In accordance with the theory of Smith; a religious community consists of religious
identities, which have shared values, myths, and traditions.
“Religion affects our lives a lot in here [Mjølnerparken]. It does because we are
Muslims and there are a lot of norms. We remind each other about these norms
regarding religion. If someone doesn’t understand a lot about these norms then we
try to explain what you are supposed to do. We have norms regarding marriage of
our kids. There is a “roadmap” we follow. We tell them that it could be the right
way if they don’t know how these norms will be observed”. (Informant 4)
This statement shows the tight bonds of values and traditions that exist between the
inhabitants of Mjølnerparken. This ‘roadmap’ indicates the importance of norms and
values, which emerge from their religion. In addition it explains how they guide their
children in a specific direction for instance when one has to choose its spouse. Moreover,
all our informants are Muslims and they all participate in communal religious events,
such as the Eid-party, with their neighbours in Mjølnerparken. One of the informants also
emphasises that it is very pleasant to celebrate this event within Mjølnerparken because
they do not feel different here because everyone more or less does the same (Informant
2).
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“I am a Muslims and to the Eid-party we are all there.” (Informant 3)
Smith’s definition of an ethnic community describes that; specific customs and rituals are
often attached to the traditions and values, as mentioned above.
“If someone is getting married, we invite, we help them out. If there is death we
participate in the funeral. That’s it. But nothing special, but communal”.
(Informant 3)
All of the informants independently mention that it is a common custom within
Mjølnerparken to render help to people who is going through a difficult time or in
regards to help preparing and celebrating marriage. This is a sign of common religious
and cultural traditions.
Because of this one could conclude that there in fact exists a strong religious bond within
Mjølnerparken.
Cultural Components
Religion is very important for most of the inhabitants in Mjølnerparken and most of
them share the same religion; Islam. But it is important to emphasise that there also
exists social relations among inhabitants that do not share the same religion.
“…my neighbour she visits me. She is Iraqi and Christian. She is not a Muslim but we
are very close. We love each other very much. And when I travel to Sweden I tell
that I would like to go to Sweden and that she should look after my home. And if she
travels I look after her home. We hmm, there is no difference between religions,
never.” (Informant 2)
The quotation emphasises a social relation between two neighbours in Mjølnerparken.
They do not share a common religion or nationality but they do speak the same language,
Arabic. Smith states that all cultural components, for instance language, religion, customs
and traditions, within an ethnic community do not necessarily need to be exactly alike.
This means that informant 2 and her Christian neighbour can be a part of the same
community even though they do not share the same religion. Furthermore it is also
worth noticing that Mjølnerparken is not only populated by Arabic speaking people. The
informant emphasises that she has a lot of Turkish friends. They meet up in women
associations and communicate.
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“We have a club where we meet once a week and sit together. Or else I speak to … I
have Turkish friends, and they come here. If we need to communicate we meet here
and talk. Other than that we don’t have problems with Danes, Turks or Somalis.”
(Informant 2)
This quotation supports the theory of Smith in regards to the cultural attribute. The
women associations can be characterised as an institution according to how Smith
defines one of the cultural components. In this case cultural components link the
inhabitants of Mjølnerparken across nationalities, language and religion. Moreover this is
not only the case for women. Within the boundaries of Mjølnerparken there exist several
different associations.
“In all kinds of activities; elder association, youth association, girls association,
ladies association or women association and plus general events as the Eid party or
something.” (Informant 3)
All these associations are independent but at the same time interconnected within the
area of Mjølnerparken. Additionally there are also the general events where all the
inhabitants are welcome. This may strengthen the social relations and the sense of
belonging in this area.
This strong social relationship is also expressed by common norms and values, which
exist between the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken.
“These types I don’t find anywhere else [Mjølnerparken]. I feel it. We need each
other. We help each other. Gives each other advises. There is also another thing, you
are so young, but when raising children in our world, it is the parents but also the
neighbours, if you understand. If I were in Lebanon, if I see a boy who do something
stupid for instance is smoking. I have the same status as his dad. “stop it [ stop
smoking] But here [Denmark] you cannot say anything, not even teachers can not
say that you are not allowed to smoke.”(Informant 3)
As the informant emphasises there is a set of values, which only exists within the
area of Mjølnerparken, which they have brought along from their country of origin,
in this case Lebanon. All the informants emphasises the importance of norms and
values in everyday life and that they are similar within the area. This is because they
share a common culture.
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The last attribute in Smith’s theory of ethnic community is the sense of solidarity.
This is important for the existence of an ethnic community in the sense that the
majority should feel some kind of belonging. Furthermore they should feel safe and
accepted within the ethnic community.
As seen in the above quote, a strong feeling of solidarity is evident within
Mjølnerparken. By solidarity Smith means a supportive group with which one feels a
sense of belonging to and can identify oneself with. Solidarity, as it is defined here, is
obvious in all of the informants’ answers. They can identify themselves with the ethnic
identity, which is present in Mjølnerparken. The ethnic identity is accumulated on the
basis of shared cultural components. According to Smith this is crucial when one needs
to define one’s ethnic identity. What is also important to notice is how for example
informant 3 explains the special bond between the inhabitants within Mjølnerparken.
“Because when I got married, my wife and I didn’t know a thing about pregnancy
and how to take care of children, how to check their temperature or be hurt. So
there were a lot of elderly women here. I know their husbands so they know I am
married and they advised my wife about bathing children, vaccines or something
else as advisors because we didn’t have any parents. The parents are far away. If
my daughter has a fever, what should I do? If her stomach hurts, what should I do?
Of course you contact the doctor but there you don’t get social advice.” (Informant
3)
In accordance to this quotation the neighbours are indispensable through all kinds of
occasions. One reason could be that family always has been an important factor in their
culture but due to the fact that they had to move away from their home countries, the
family might have been geographical separated. Two of the informants said that some
members of their family still live in Lebanon. Therefore one could assume that some of
the elderly women are substitutes for the family. This supports the bond of solidarity and
a feeling of a collective family within Mjølnerparken.
“So it’s kind of a way we have learned to live by. If you want to survive, you should
start with you own [people]. We are the first generation. I came here alone. My
family is still living in Lebanon. When we lived outside with the Danes, we felt that
we were missing something. I felt it very strongly after I got married; I am missing
something. The support from my own”. (Informant 4)
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This informant describes how he would only live among his own. A place where he
would find solidarity and the family feeling as earlier mentioned. Smith views this
feeling of solidarity as something important for the maintenance of the community.
Part Conclusion
The majority of the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken do have a sense of belonging to a
territorial area outside Denmark. This is both geographical, for instance Lebanon, as
well as symbolic, for instance Mecca. This also emphasises the religious bond, which
exists within the area. The majority of the inhabitants has a shared religion and
participate in social events such as the religious Eid-party. Based on these facts one can
conclude that Mjølnerparken can be characterised as a religious community. In addition
the analysis shows that they have shared cultural components, in regards to Smith’s
theory of an ethnic community. These cultural components are for instance religion,
language, customs and norms. Finally the core of an ethnic community, solidarity, is
expressed in our analysis of Mjølnerparken. This is seen in the fact that they have a
sense of belonging to the area and feel socially close connected like a family. Based on
the analysis the conclusion is that Mjølnerparken is both a religious and an ethnic
community according to theory of Smith.
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Chapter 4
Discussion of Mjølnerparken based on Theories by Anderson
and Smith
The aim of this chapter is to discuss the differences as well as the similarities, between
the theory of Benedict Anderson and the theory of Anthony D. Smith, in accordance to
the definition of Mjølnerparken as a community. We will elaborate the discussion by
investigating the following subjects: Social relations, religion and culture in regards to
the two theories.
When one has to investigate Mjølnerparken as a community one has to look into the
social relations within it. The two theorists both state that social relations are vital in the
existence of a community but the way they define it is different. Anderson explains that
today’s face-to-face relations have lost their significance and that this is creating an
imagined community. Smith, on the other hand, claims that social relations originates
from a common sense of belonging to a territorial area, not necessarily the area of
residence.
Based on both theories, the fact that the inhabitants live within a geographical bounded
area is not a crucial part when defining a community. One of the important aspects is
their particular social relations. The inhabitants of Mjølnerparken have these face-toface relation in regards to their participation in several associations and events. This
contradicts the theory of Anderson because he claims that these kinds of relations have
faded which have led to the community being imagined. This suggests that Anderson’s
theory, (about face-to-face relations is being replaced by imagined communities), is not
applicable in regards to Mjølnerparken. There is indeed a feeling of communality within
the area, and Mjølnerparken can thereby be characterised as an imagined community,
because the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken do not have these face-to-face relations.
Smith’s theory is also applicable due to the fact that the inhabitants feel a common
belonging to a historical or symbolic territory. The close relationship and the family
feeling also strengthen Smiths’ theory because of the resemblance to his concept of
solidarity.
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In this case both theories describe the social structure well and we can therefore
conclude that there exists a community on the basis of the aspect of the social relations
within Mjølnerparken.
The majority of the inhabitants share a common religion. The two theorists have an
antagonistic view according to the role of religion in the creation of a community. Smith
describes religion as the accumulated sum of shared values, myths, and traditions.
Furthermore he argues that religion is a common denominator which links people
together in a community. Anderson views religion as withdrawing in importance in
contemporary society.
According to the fact that a lot of the inhabitants show strong commitment to their
religion and participate in religious festivities, such as the Eid-party and weddings, one
can conclude that there exists a religious bond within Mjølnerparken. In the case of
Mjølnerparken, this is not in concordance with the theory of Anderson. However it is
important to emphasise that Anderson does not say that religion is definitely without
any bearing but rather that it is not that significant anymore in the creation of a
community. Due to the fact that most of the inhabitants originate from Arabic speaking
countries they have some common myth of ancestry as well as religious traditions.
Thereby we can conclude that according to Smith’s theory there exists a religious
community.
The cultural aspect as seen in the views of Anderson and Smith are also important to
investigate. Both theorists define culture as one of the most important factors of a
community.
To Smith the shared culture is of great importance. This gives a starting point, when
creating the feeling of solidarity, which he finds important. In Mjølnerparken Smith’s
idea of a shared ancestry is also to be found. This shared ancestry is the foundation of
the shared culture. When using Smith’s theory in the analysis of Mjølnerparken we can
conclude that it is definitely a community. This is evident in the fact that Mjølnerparken
is both a religious as well as an ethnic community.
When investigating Mjølnerparken according to Anderson’s theory the spoken language
is important. This is due to the fact that 93% of the inhabitants originate from Arabic
speaking countries. To Anderson, language is the medium in which the imagined
community is created. Therefore there is the potential of an imagined community.
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Having shared norms, values and culture in general makes it easier for people to
recognise themselves and by that also makes it easier to define what the community
should be like. This is crucial in an imagined community.
One can argue whether there exists an imagined community within Mjølnerparken.
From the analysis of the interviews, we conclude that there is an imagined community in
Mjølnerparken. This is in fact a paradox to Anderson’s theory because of the fact that
they do have both face-to-face relations as well as the religious cultural system. One can
argue that a reason why they move to Mjølnerparken could be because they imagine a
relation to the other inhabitants according to culture, religion, language and other traits.
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Chapter 5
Analysis of Group Portraying
In this chapter we will analyse the answers of the interviews in order to see if the
inhabitants of Mjølnerparken portray themselves as a group. By looking at the meaning
of their answers we will assess whether they perceive themselves as a certain group.
Here we will focus both on the literal and the non-literal context.
We will analyse the interviews with focus on both the semantics and pragmatics.
With focus on the semantics we will look at the specific choice of words that shows that
there is a group portraying. The pragmatics will focus on whole sentences with both the
literal meaning, and also the non-literal meaning – speakers meaning. We will also look
at specific words to see if they mean something more than the literal meaning.
First of all, it is relevant to illuminate how the informants chose to denote the people not
living inside Mjølnerparken. More specifically how they mention ethnic Danes. The
informants use the word Danes 19 times through all of the interviews. The literal
meaning of this word is the Danish inhabitants. The non literal meaning of Danes refers
to a group that they are not part of, and a group that is not a part of them. If you look at
the context that Danes appear in, it is also clear to see that Danes are referred to as a
group, which the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken distinguish themselves from.
These quotes from informant 2 illustrates clearly how there is a dualistic view between
the informant and the Danes; “The Danes are very cold” this indicates that the informant
is generalising and perhaps has prejudice towards Danes. Moreover the informant
emphasises;
“The Danes are kind of dry. They have some rules… we also have rules but not like
the Danes.” (Informant 2)
This also highlights the fact that the informant views the Danish rules as different from
the rules she is familiar with and therefore she is not like the Danes. Overall one could
argue that she distances herself from the Danes due to the difference of the rules.
Informant 3 does also speak of the Danish rules;
“If I said to my children; you have to respect the Danes, you should respect the
rules.” (Informant 3)
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Hereby the informant stresses that the Danes have certain rules that differs from his
own, which also imply that the informant distances himself. This shows a clear
distinction between the Danes and them. The Danes appear as a certain group in which
they do not belong.
Secondly, the informants’ use of words when mentioning themselves and the Danes in
the interview is very crucial in this context, partly because it demonstrates the
informants’ view of themselves but also because it confirms the distinction of
themselves and the society outside Mjølnerparken.
For instance, in this quote by informant 2, “We are a lot more socialised and we help each
other” the choice of the word we symbolises how the informant is convinced that there
is a division between the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken and the Danes. She also claims
that they are more helpful in Mjølnerparken than the people living outside their area. By
this it is noticeably detailed that there is alienation when it comes to the subject of us
and them. The informant elaborates by stating;
“So when people outside Mjølnerparken look at the relations they find it much
warmer, they say it is really nice.” (Informant 2)
Hereby she as well claims how the people outside Mjølnerparken are a different group
who does not belong inside their residential area. Informant 3 is evidently agreeing with
informant 2 with his quote; “We need each other. We help each other” due to his use of
the word we. It appears obvious in both the informants’ choice of words that they
perceive themselves as a certain group that distinguishes from the group outside.
They are also familiar with each other. Informant 3 states; “Yes yes, I almost know
everyone. I know everyone.” This indicates that they acknowledge the other inhabitants
of Mjølnerparken. It confirms the idea that they categorise themselves as a separate
group. More specifically informant 3 defines the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken as a
Muslim group;
“… we are Muslims and there are a lot of norms. We remind each other about these
norms regarding religion.” (Informant 3)
So, due to the fact that they have a religion which distinguishes from the majority of the
Danes’ beliefs, they are strengthening themselves as a group.
Informant 3 further expresses that the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken are alienated with
this view; “It is always us they talk about. The Muslims.” Hereby he is not only saying that
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he feels there is a general hetz against Muslims from the outside society, but his choice
of the words they and us underline that he belongs to the group of Muslims and they do
not. He speaks repeatedly of “the others” view on “them”; “…that look you get sometimes.
When people are looking at you, you can feel it.” Again it appears that he feels alienated
from the Danes, because they do not share his beliefs and norms regarding religion.
Other words used during the interviews appears in this quote from informant 4; “…to be
with our own kind.” Here he is explaining the reasons why he moved to Mjølnerparken.
He is emphasising that there exists an obvious division of groups in society, one being
outside Mjølnerparken and another inside, the last being the one he belongs to.
When asking informant 5 the same question about reasons for her moving to
Mjølnerparken, the answer was rather close to the other quotes presented from other
informants;
“We recognise the surroundings from our own countries and that’s why we get a
sense of belonging and security. Here we don’t have to put our guards up and
protect ourselves from the Danish society, which appear to us as very cold and
sometimes unwelcoming.” (Informant 5)
This quote says much about the basic reasons for the division presented several times
by the informants through the interviews. The recognition which this informant has
experienced when living inside the residential is the main reason for her comfort and
sense of belonging. But nevertheless it seems like there is prejudices about the Danish
society, as well, due to the idea that the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken share social lives.
It is a big contrast to what is represented outside the borders of Mjølnerparken.
In addition to the above mentioned, it is noticeable how the informants express that the
Danes are stereotyping them. The need to defend themselves appear as a protection
from the negative attention revolving Mjølnerparken. It is also represented several
times in their answers during the interviews. For instance informant 4 stresses;
“There was big propaganda about children who couldn’t speak Danish. But they all
speak Danish.” (Informant 4)
In this quote the informant conveys his dissatisfaction with the way children of
Mjølnerparken are portrayed. But moreover does the subsequently declaration which
says that all children can speak Danish underline his defensive approach.
Complementing informant 4 with a defensive attitude is informant 3 with this citation;
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“Wrong or dangerous things are not only in this area. It doesn’t matter. That guy,
Søndergaard, who beats up his wife and children, he is a Dane. The Dane who hit
the little Turkish boy, the news paper deliver. He was a Dane. And the ones who kills
their sweethearts or the girlfriend who throw her boyfriend out of the window, she
was also a Dane. The dangerous things are not only in this area.” (Informant 4)
This is a more radical defensive attitude given that the informant actually becomes the
attacker by portraying Danes in a rather negative way. It says something about his
feelings regarding the bad reputation of Mjølnerparken. Obviously his attempt to
measure danger gets out of proportions due to the fact that these stories presented
about the Danes are isolated cases. When speaking of danger in the area of
Mjølnerparken it is due to the high crime rate. But with that being said, it is surely only a
way for the informant to make a point.
In extension to the earlier mentioned division of us and them, this strengthens the
division of areas; Danish and Muslim. Quotations with the distinction between areas are
common in the interviews. First presented by informant 2; “She lives in the Muslims
area.” Here the informant is speaking of a Danish woman living in Mjølnerparken and
evidently saying that she is foreign and thereby alluding that she does not belong. As
support to informant 2’s quotation above, this is brought by informant 3; “Imagine if you
couldn’t speak Danish and you lived in the Danish area.” Obviously this means that there
is a Danish area that distinguishes from the area of Mjølnerparken. Furthermore
informant 4 appears to be in agreement with the other informants through the following
quote regarding their view of areas.
“When we lived outside with the Danes, we felt that we were missing something …
So I was missing someone to support me and then I moved in with my own.”
(Informant 4)
Because of the fact that a majority of the inhabitants in Mjølnerparken are Muslims the
informants have developed a sense of ownership towards the area they are living in.
Due to these divisions in areas and the divisions in us and them, there is a sustained
distancing from the Danes.
Finally, it is also relevant to shed light upon the metaphors represented in the
interviews. Here it is not relevant to use the semantic analysis, since there is no literal
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meaning. Informant 3 uses the following metaphor to express himself about the
divisions between the Muslims and the Danes;
“That is the reason why, do you understand, some animal, you cannot put a camel
together with a donkey. Do you understand? Camels with camels and donkeys with
donkeys and dogs with dogs. Do you understand? This is natural. It isn’t something
you can change. Therefore people here understand each other.” (Informant 3)
With this simple illustration the informant explains his opinion about mixing Danes and
Muslims. It is simply not rational. The main argument is his statement that it is human
nature that people who share religion, culture and norms choose to live together.
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Conclusion
The aim of this project was to investigate whether the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken
perceive themselves as a community. This conclusion will hereby answer the problem
formulation on the basis of our findings in regards to the three research questions.
Anderson states that communities are imagined because a real community, which is
based on face-to-face relations, is decreasing. This implies that communities are socially
constructed because we imagine a belonging to people we do not know. According to
Anderson there are two main forces that have strengthened ‘Imagined Communities”.
First the decay of cultural systems and second the change of the apprehension of time
and place. The cultural system comprises both the ‘Religious community’ and the
‘Dynastic community’.
Smith has three definitions of a community: Religious, Political and Ethnic.
These communities are territorially bounded and can be both historically and symbolic.
There are six attributes that define an ethnic community. Some of them are: a common
name, common ancestry, historical memories and elements of a common culture.
Solidarity is also an important aspect of an ethnic community, because it evokes a
feeling of belonging and therefore one can identify oneself.
To clarify, Anderson’s theory is about people who imagined that they have something in
common and they therefore do not need the face-to-face relations anymore. Smith’s
theory, on the other hand, does not mention whether the members should live within
the same area, but that they should share a belonging to specific area, either historical or
symbolic.
The Danish media perceives Mjølnerparken as a community. In order to find out if
Mjølnerparken is a community we conducted five interviews with inhabitants of
Mjølnerparken to shed light on their daily life, especially their social relations and
belonging to their residential area.
According to the theories of Anderson and Smith Mjølnerparken can be classified as a
community in regard to the social relations and religion. There are aspects of the two
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theories that can be applied well to Mjølnerparken. In addition there are also some
aspects that make Mjølnerparken differ from the theories.
Smith’s definition of a religious community applies very well to Mjølnerparken. The
inhabitants of Mjølnerparken have shared values, myths, and traditions. These are
attributes that Smith ascribes great importance in regards to religious communities.
Anderson says that the importance of religion in the creation of a community is fading
away. However this is not the case in Mjølnerparken.
Another aspect is in regards to the social relations within Mjølnerparken. Anderson
states that the importance of face-to-face relations is fading, but in Mjølnerparken we
can conclude that these face-to-face relations are very important for the inhabitants yet
they do not know them all. Therefore Mjølnerparken can to some extent still be
described as an imagined community.
The close relations and family ties support Smith’s concept of solidarity that he ascribes
great importance of communities. In addition there is also the shared ancestry of many
of the inhabitants in Mjølnerparken.
Furthermore, one could conclude that the conception of ‘Imagined Communities’ take
place when people choose to move to Mjølnerparken, because they think they have
something in common with other inhabitants. But as soon as they live there, the face-toface relations become crucial in everyday life and then there exists a ‘real’ community. A
real community is also a part of Smith’s definitions of religious and ethnic communities.
So according to the theories of Anderson and Smith, Mjølnerparken is a community,
even though it is not a complete reflection.
But an important aim of this project is to analyse if the inhabitants of Mjølnerparken
portray themselves as a group through a linguistic analysis.
It is easy to conclude from the interviews that they see a distinction between the
inhabitants of Mjølnerparken and the Danes. By using words such as We, Them, and Us
they portray two separate groups. By referring to Mjølnerparken as a Muslim area and
the outside as Danish, they definitely feel a sense of belonging to Mjølnerparken. This
sense of belonging is also seen in the way they recognise themselves in each other. They
feel safe and welcome in Mjølnerparken, and they feel that it reminds them of their
country of origin. This they do not feel in Danish neighbourhoods. Here they feel as if
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they are standing out from the typical Dane because they have norms, values, and
traditions that differ from the Danes.
The fact that Mjølnerparken is characterised as a community and that the informants
portray themselves as a group, answers the problem formulation.
The informants portray themselves as group that resides in Mjølnerparken. And because
Mjølnerparken, according to our theories, is a community, we conclude that the
inhabitants of Mjølnerparken recognise themselves as a community.
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Bibliography
Books:
Anderson
-
Anderson, B. (1991), Imagined Communities, Rev. ed, London: Verso
Bitsch et Pedersen
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Bitsch Olsen, Poul. Pedersen, Kaare. (2011) Problem-oriented project work,
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Eriksen
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Eriksen, Thomas Hylland (2002) Ethnicity and Nationalism, 2nd edition,
London: Pluto Press
Fuglsang et Bitsch
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Fuglsang, L. Bitsch. O. P. (2009), Videnskabsteori I samfundsvidenskaberne, på
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Hall
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Hall, S. Gay, P. d. (2005), Questions of cultural identity, reprint, London: SAGE
publications LtD.
Hutchinson et Smith
-
Hutchinson, John. Smith, Anthony D. (1996) Ethnicity, Oxford, New York:
Oxford University Press
Kristensen, Catharina Juul
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Fuglsang, Lars. Hagedorn-Rasmussen, Peter. Bitsch Olsen, Poul. (editors),
(2007), Teknikker I samfundsvidenskaben, Copenhagen: Roskilde
Universitetsforlag
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Kvale
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Kvale, Steinar. Brinkmann, Svend. (2009) InterViews, 2nd edition. London: SAGE
Publications Ltd
Portner, Paul
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Fasold, Ralph. Connor-Linton, Jeff. (editors) (2006), An introduction to
language and linguistics, New York: Cambridge University Press
Smith
-
Smith, A. D. (1991) National identities, Reno: University of Nevada Press
-
Smith, A. D. (2003) Nationalisme (Danish edition), Copenhagen: Hans
Reitzels forlag
Åkerstrøm et al.
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Esmark, A. Laustsen, C. B. Åkerstrøm, N. A. (2005), Socialkonstruktivistiske
analysestrategier, 1st edtion, Copenhagen: Roskilde Universitetsforlag
Online newspaper articles:
Berlingske Tidende
-
Danmarks 29 ghettoer
Available 7 dec 2011 at:
http://www.b.dk/danmark/her-er-danmarks-29-ghettoer-0
-
Sloth, Søs Lykke. Parallelsamfund eksisterer I hele Danmark (2008)
Available 18 dec 2011 at:
http://www.b.dk/danmark/parallelsamfund-eksisterer-i-hele-danmark
-
Heering, Anders. DR det mest troværdige nyhedsmedie, Heering, Anders (2008)
Available 17 dec 2011 at:
http://www.business.dk/media/dr-det-mest-trovaerdige-nyhedsmedie
Information
-
O. Redder, H. Oprørske unge er ikke kun Englands problem (2011)
Available 18 dec 2011 at:
http://www.information.dk/276085
Page 59 af 86
Jyllandsposten
-
Ghettoland (collection of articles)
Available 18 dec 2011 at: http://jp.dk/system/topicRoot/Ghettoland/
-
Her er Danmarks udsatte boligområder
Available 29 nov 2011 at: http://jp.dk/indland/article2199727.ece
Webpages:
Københavns Kommune (Municipality of Copenhagen)
-
Fødselsdag i Mjølnerparken, 1 Sep 2008
Available 29 nov 2011 at:
http://www.kk.dk/Nyheder/2008/September/FoedselsdagIMjoelnerparken.aspx
-
Niras Konsulenterne, (May 2008) Trivselsundersøgelse i Mjølnerparken
Available 29 nov 2011 at:
http://www.kk.dk/Borger/DetSocialeOmraade//Publikationer/~/media/1B6BF5CBF439436FB9
152807A7F1B49B.ashx
Lejerbo
-
Lars H. Johansen, Konsulentkompagniet, Nye samtaler I Mjølnerparken (2003),
Available 29 nov 2011 at:
http://www.lejerbo.dk/Beboere/~/media/E9997179D6BF440F97C19B2F29F2F323.ashx
Ministeriet for flygtninge, indvandrere og integration (Ministry of for refugees,
immigrants and integration)
-
Udsatte Boligområder (2004)
Available 29 nov 2011 at:
http://www.nyidanmark.dk/bibliotek/statistik/aarbog_om_udlaendinge/2004/aarbog_udlaendin
ge_04/html/chapter06.htm#U2)
Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary
-
Available 29 nov 2011 at:
http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/ghetto
Regeringen (The Government)
-
Ghettoen tilbage til samfundet (2010)
Available 29 nov 2011 at:
http://www.stm.dk/publikationer/Ghettostrategi_10/Ghettostrategi.pdf
Page 60 af 86
Socialministeriet (Ministry of social affairs)
-
Liste over Ghettoområder per 1 januar 2011
Available 29 nov 2011 at:
http://www.sm.dk/data/Dokumentertilnyheder/2011/ghettoområder_pr_1_januar.pdf
Ugebrevet A4
-
Bræmer, Michael, Politikere og medier holder diskriminationen I kog, (2010)
Available 18 dec 2011 at:
http://www.ugebreveta4.dk/2010/201005/Baggrundoganalyse/Politikere_og_medier_holder_dis
kriminationen_i_kog.aspx
-
Madsen, Tanya Nyrup, Med det mediebillede, vi har I dag, kan man ikke fortænke
hr. og fru Jensen I at tænke, at >>de der indvandrere da ikke giver andet end
problemer<<, (2008)
Available 7 dec 2011 at:
http://www.ugebreveta4.dk/2008/200810/Baggrundoganalyse/MedierBremserIntegration.aspx
Velfærdsministeriet (Ministry of Welfare)
-
Maïa, At være muslimsk kvinde i Danmark (2009)
Available 14 dec 2011 at http://www.lige.dk/files/pdf/at_vaere_muslimsk_kvinde_i_dk.pdf
Verbal sources:
Informant 1
- Ali, N. Anonymous, 05-12-2011 7pm, Mjølnerparken Copenhagen.
Informant 2
- Ali, N. Anonymous, 06-12-2011 12.40pm, Mjølnerparken Copenhagen.
Informant 3
- Ali, N. Anonymous, 06-12-2011 5pm, Mjølnerparken Copenhagen.
Informant 4
- Ali, N. Anonymous, 06-12-2011 7pm, Mjølnerparken Copenhagen.
Informant 5
- Ali, N. Anonymous, 07-12-2011 5pm, Mjølnerparken Copenhagen.
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Appendix
The attachments consist of five interviews from our informants. All of the informants
were recorded except for informant 1, because she did not want to be. They are all asked
the same six questions that are listed underneath.
1.) Have you lived elsewhere and why did you move to Mjølnerparken?
2.) Can you describe your relations to your neighbours?
3.) Do you participate in social arrangement for instance the Eid-party [holy event
for Muslims] in Mjølnerparken?
4.) What do you have in common with the other inhabitants of Mjølnerparken –
according to norm and values, religion?
5.) When have you last visited or had a visit by someone who doesn’t speak the
same language as you, for instance a Dane?
6.) Could you imagine yourself living in an area where the majority of the
inhabitants are Danes?
All of the six questions have been chosen in consideration of what we found important
to enlighten with the interview. When reading the interviews the comments of the
interviewer is in bold writing whereas the answers of the informants will be in normal
writing.
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Informant 1
05-12-11, 7 pm.
Bold writing: Interviewer
Normal writing: Informant
-
Age: 45
-
Sex: women
-
Ethnic background: Palestinian
-
Job: unemployed
Have you lived elsewhere and why did you move to Mjølnerparken?
I have never lived other places in Denmark. I have earlier lived in Germany and
afterwards I moved straight to Mjølnerparken. My husband got this apartment offered
by Lejerbo 24 years ago.
Can you describe your relations to your neighbours?
Back then when I moved to Mjølnerparken there were very few families with immigrant
backgrounds. Today are there few Danes living here. (Ha ha)
It meant that one got a good relationship with the other families with immigrant
backgrounds. Besides that a lot of my family lives here. Them we see a lot and we have a
very good relationship.
Under the Ramadan and Eid I spend a lot of time with my neighbours, because we eat
and celebrate the holidays together.
Do you participate in social arrangement for instance the Eid-party [holy event for
Muslims] in Mjølnerparken?
Yes almost everyone from Mjølnerparken participated at the Eid-party. There are also
other activities. E.g. there is the Women club that was started lately, where the women
can come and relax with the other inhabitants. I think it is called café Norr. The club is
arranging trips so you can get out of the house and experience some things instead of
being at home and being bored.
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What do you have in common with the other inhabitants of Mjølnerparken –
according to norm and values, religion?
As I mentioned earlier most of the families in Mjølnerparken are with another ethnic
background. And many of them are Palestinians as me. This means that we have a lot of
things in common. The culture is the same and therefore we have a better
understanding and knowledge between us.
This of course means that I feel it is very safe to live here. E.g. I can walk home at the
evening alone here or on Nørrebrogade without being afraid. Everyone knows each
other or at least remembers their faces.
When have you last visited or had a visit by someone who doesn’t speak the same
language as you, for instance a Dane?
Ohh, I don’t remember. It is so long time ago. But my son brings his friends over
sometimes. They are Danes.
Could you imagine yourself living in an area where the majority of the inhabitants
are Danes?
In some ways I would want to move away. Mostly because we do not have so much
space in this apartment. And because there is a lot of crime in the area. But it is also very
hard to imagine a life outside of Mjølnerparken, now when I feel so safe. Who know if
the Danes will accept us as we are, or if they will welcome us into their neighbourhoods.
Here there is a community. If someone dies it is a norm that we support the family by
e.g. cooking, and helping them trough the hard period. It does not make a difference if
they are close friends or not, we are neighbours. I will answer both yes and no to your
question.
Summary
Informant 1 spends time with her neighbours. She goes to activities in Mjølnerparken.
She has a common understanding of the other inhabitants, norms, and values because
many are from Palestine. It makes it safer to be there. She does not have any other
contact with Danes then when her son brings friends home. She would like to move
away because there is not enough space in her apartment. But she does not know if the
Danes in other places would accept her family.
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Informant 2
06-12-2011, 12:40 pm.
Bold writing: Interviewer
Normal writing: Informant
-
Age: 39
-
Sex: woman
-
Ethnic background: Palestinian
-
Job: volunteering, president of the women’s club [for women in Mjølnerparken]
Have you lived elsewhere and why did you move to Mjølnerparken?
I came to Denmark in 1991. I was living in Holte for a year. But the reason why I moved
to Mjølnerparken was because my family was living here. And I was in Mjølnerparken
and Nørrebro everyday, so it was easy for me to move. I wanted to move because of my
family. (But) now I am really happy.
So you are really happy to live here?
Yeah yeah, especially in Nørrebro.
Yeah okay.
Can you describe your relations to your neighbours?
Hhmmm.
How are your relations and your relationship with each other?
Do you know why I am happy, it is exactly because of that. We are a lot more socialized
and we help each other. When something bad happens to someone, we try to help one
another. When something happens to me, I know all my neighbours, they ask/check
on/for me. Hmm, you will not find that other places. (no, no, no, no) That is why I am
really happy. I went to Hajj [Muslims’ pilgrimage to Mecca] last year. I have six children
who are home alone. They don’t feel alone because of my neighbours.
Okay.
Do you understand what I mean, they all ask about them and bring them food and all
kinds of stuff. I feel that everyone in Mjølnerparken feels welcome in my home.
So when you are travelling and your family is home alone, they pay regard and
prepare food for your family.
All sorts of things.
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Okay
If someone dies in Mjølnerparken or if someone has a disease, we try to visit him
everyday and prepare him food. We help if we can.
So when people outside Mjølnerparken look at the relations they find it much warmer,
they say it is really nice.
Yeah
Especially when we are living in Denmark. People they look at us, excuse me, the Danes
are very cold.
Okay, okay.
Do you participate in social arrangement for instance the Eid-party [holy event for
Muslims] in Mjølnerparken?
Of course, I work as a communication ambassador in Mjølnerparken. We arrange a lot of
events as the summer party and winter party and so on. We bring role models for the
teenagers, we invite bydelsmor [role model for women in a certain areas of town] to talk
with teenagers in Mjølnerparken. Also here I am vice president. We talk to the teenagers
so we don’t have any problems with that.
So you have many internal activities for the inhabitants in Mjølnerparken?
Yes exactly.
What do you have in common with the other inhabitants of Mjølnerparken
according to norm and values, religion?
We don’t have any problems with that.
There you don’t have any problems?
Not at all, my neighbour she visits me. She is Iraqi and Christian. She is not a Muslim but
we are very close. We like each other very much. And when I travel to Sweden I tell that
I would like to go to Sweden and that she should look after my home. And if she travels I
look after her home. We hmm, there is no difference between religions, never.
No, so do you feel that a lot of inhabitants share your culture.
It was my neighbour upstairs, she was a Dane but she is dead now. She appeared strange
to me because she hates Muslims for example. She lives in the Muslims area. And we
tried to talk to her: “If you hate Muslims, why do you live here. Most of the people here
are Muslims, I think you should move.” But she didn’t want to. I think she loves us,
(haha) I don’t know. We tried to discuss it with her despite she didn’t want to. We tried
to be nice to her. When she went out with her dog we opened the door for her. But she
was really mean. We talk to the person, because she has a dog and we have children in
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our building. She is a little annoying towards the children. And after that she became a
little upset. Other than that we don’t have any problems with it.
Yeah, but what I mean is; do you have things in common with the people living in
Mjølnerparken, for instance norm and values? Do you find a lot of similarities
among you?
Yeah, we have the same religions, traditions and all that.
What does that mean for your relationship?
It means a lot, for example in Eid, we don’t feel different. All our neighbours do the same.
So, you don’t feel alienated?
Exactly.
Okay.
When have you last visited or had a visit by someone who doesn’t speak the same
language as you, for instance a Dane?
Hmm, a Dane?
Or perhaps someone who doesn’t speak Arabic?
No, not visits. I don’t have time for visits. I don’t have time to visit my friends. We have a
club where we meet once a week and sit together. Or else I speak to … I have Turkish
friends, and they come here. If we need to communicate we meet here and talk. Other
than that we don’t have problems with Danes, Turks or Somalis.
Could you imagine yourself living in an area where the majority of the inhabitants
are Danes?
I don’t think so. Because I have tried it through my brother. He lives in Farum. The
majority there are Danes. When we go to visit him, we find it boring. We can’t
unfortunately. I have a big family and if I live in another area, it would be annoying to
them. Because Danes have maximum three children and I have six children. That would
be annoying to them because they are too noisy. We have different things so it will be
hard to live there. But we can mixed.
Mixed, not with a majority of Danes?
No, not with a Danish majority. That is not good.
Would you feel like a stranger?
No, I don’t feel like a stranger, but I don’t know why. I think maybe because the Danes
are kind of dry. They have some rules.
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You mean they have many principles?
Exactly, we also have rules but not like the Danes.
Not the same kind of social rules?
No, that’s why. But not because I don’t want to have contact with them. I have a lot of
Danish friends and I have contact with them. I also make them food. I have no problems
with them.
But not a hundred percent.
So there are no personal relations?
No.
No, okay. Thank you.
Summary
Informant 2 moved to Mjølnerparken because of family reasons. She has a very good
relationship with her neighbours because they help each other in bad and good times.
The informant is part of a committee that arranges activities and therefore she
participates in all the activities. She has a good relationship with her neighbours from
the Middle East, but she had some troubles with her earlier neighbour that was Danish.
She cannot remember the last time she had a conversation with a Dane but she goes to
the club where she talks with friends that are not Arabic speaking. She could not
imagine herself living among the Danes, because they cannot adjust to her family values.
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Informant 3
06-12-2011, 5 pm.
Bold writing: Interviewer
Normal writing: Informant
-
Age: 45
-
Sex: man
-
Ethnic background: Palestinian
Job: El engineers
Have you lived elsewhere and why did you move to Mjølnerparken?
When I cam to Denmark I was living in Ishøj for about three months. And then I moved
to Amager. Hmm, yes to Amager. After that I moved to Kgs. Nytorv. That’s where the
University of Copenhagen was placed. Hmm. Apartment, a youth apartment
(ungdomsbolig). And at that time I studied at DTU. Hmmm, And after I got married,
obviously my wife got pregnant so I moved to Mjølnerparken.
Why?
We needed more space. As I remember it, it was the 15th of May 1992. My wife was
pregnant and our first child was born the 21st of September 1992. So we needed more
space and it was better for me because back then the buildings were very new and there
were almost a hundred percent Danish inhabitants and there were no immigrants back
then. Beautiful area and lots of traffic. I mean transport in both directions, Tagensvej,
Jagtvej but Bispebjerg train station did not exist. Nørrebro in the middle of the city
surrounded by everything, so that is why we chose it.
Can you describe your relations to your neighbours?
I can’t say it is all bad. In general it is alright. But those who have teenagers have some
problems, at least most of them. In general I know many engineers who live in
Mjølnerparken. There are many doctors, lots of people have a job, many own small
shops and there are many who owns grill bars. Not all of them are unemployed. Perhaps
men are more ‘driven’ than women because obviously women are taking care of their
children. Usually as we know women they will rather take care of their children.
Because if both the man and woman are employed then who should take care of the
children. So therefore it is recommended that women take care of the children. Because
they come from Palestine and Lebanon where the woman is at home and looks after the
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children because that is their mentality. Plus that some of the women can not be
integrated in the Danish labour market. The first reason is that they don’t speak Danish.
Plus they are not allowed, they are religious people so they are wearing headscarf, so
they have a problem. So therefore they withdraw from the Danish labour market and
they recommend that they take care of the home and children. We don’t want our
children to become criminal ..which happens.. if there isn’t someone who is taking care
of them, so therefore it is recommend that they stay home.
But do you have any personal relations to your neighbours, for instance
friendships?
Yes yes, I almost know everyone. I know everyone. But who my friends are, who I visit
and visits me? It is.. I don’t really have time. Plus, the ones I know are same level, they
are working or something. And I am done working around 4 or 5 everyday, so we might
meet up doing the weekend.
Okay.
Do you participate in social arrangement for instance the Eid-party [holy event for
Muslims] in Mjølnerparken?
Yes of course. I am also one of them, I am volunteering, always in Mjølnerparken. I have
been it since I moved here. In all kinds of activities; elder association, youth association,
girls association, ladies association, or women association and plus general events as the
Eid party or something. I am volunteering.
What do you have in common with the other inhabitants of Mjølnerparken –
according to norm and values, religion and ethnical origin?
Well, neighbourliness, so there isn’t any relations. Hmmm, I am a Muslims and to the
Eid-party we are all there. If there are any communal , for instance Nørrebrohallen or
Valby, that is general. There is nothing special. If someone is getting married, we invite,
we help them out. If there is death we participate in the funeral. That’s it. But nothing
special, but communal.
So you feel that you share you culture from your country of origin and is that
something you see as common in Mjølnerparken. That people have the same
culture as you?
Yes yes, of course, just like mercury. It is just like immigrants. The problem is when you
have it and put on the table and they will split. When you move one they stick together.
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Yeah, the stick together.
So therefore it is a problem. It is also a problem that.. I have tried it myself.. with racism,
unclear racism or undercover racism. I can feel it. Even though I understand it is not. I
can feel it. Also my daughter can feel it. All my children can feel it. When you have dark
hair, do you understand? So therefore people here .. the problem here is, as already
mentioned, that it is recommend that women stay at home and men are working. Of
course many of the women are thinking the same, they think.. It also has something to
do with traditions. They drink morning coffee and cookies and ladies talk. They gossip
about each other. They love it (haha) she is married, she is separated, she is pregnant,
losing children, she is having an abortion. Understand it is women. Chicken-talk. (haha).
It is important for the women plus there is also another important think for me at that
time because I needed some good advice. Because when I got married, my wife and I
didn’t know a thing about pregnancy and how to take care of children, how to check
their temperature or be hurt. So there were a lot of elderly women here. I know their
husbands so they know I am married and they advised my wife about bathing children,
vaccines or something else as advisors because we didn’t have any parents. The parents
are far away. If my daughter has a fever, what should I do? If her stomach hurts, what
should I do? Of course you contact the doctor but there you don’t get social advice.
Hmmm
So your neighbours help you with advises?
Yes yes, I remember one time, my wife were pregnant with our number two. I attended a
course in Jutland for two weeks. I could say no to the course because it was a part of my
education. My wife feels or she don’t know what to do, so two ladies, old ladies, sleeps
here. Also your grandmother helps as well, it is the same. These types, I don’t find
anywhere else. I feel it. We need each other. We help each other. Gives each other
advices. There is also another thing, you are so young, but when raising children in our
world, it is the parents but also the neighbours, if you understand. If I were in Lebanon,
if I see a boy who do something stupid for instance is smoking. I have the same status as
his dad. “stop it” [stop smoking]. But here [Denmark] you cannot say anything, not even
teachers cannot say that you are not allowed to smoke. This you don’t understand. It is
another tradition and culture and mentality. This is the difference.
Yes.
That is the reason why, do you understand, some animal, you cannot put a camel
together with a donkey. Do you understand? Camels with camels and donkeys with
donkeys and dogs with dogs. Do you understand? This is natural. It isn’t something you
can change. Therefore people here understand each other. Imagine if you couldn’t speak
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Danish and you live in the Danish area. Then you need to practice on your Danish but if
you can’t, you have a handicap, you cannot remember or there is something wrong with
you. Then you will be blocked. Because understand that language is the communication
between you and people. Understand you and understand them. But if you don’t you
have a problem. And this is the problem, over here people know each other, same
mentality, same educational level and therefore they stay together.
When have you last visited or had a visit by someone who doesn’t speak the same
language as you, for instance a Dane?
Well, you can not ask me that because I am international. Last week we had a candidate
here. A master candidate. She is going to make a rapport about Palestians from 48. The
first generation from 1948. second generation, third generation. So she interviewed my
mom, my sister and my daughter.
Okay
So people come here. There are many. My daughter…
But do you have any personal relations.
Yes yes, of course. Hmm. Also my children have relations, school and so on. They talk
together, hanging out together and eat together. It is not because I come from the third
world. (haha)
There are many Arabic people who don’t have any Danish relations.
Yeah, the obvious. There are a lot of reason for that. This is what you want to talk about,
right? There are a lot of reasons. If.. ..one of the reasons is, I cannot say all of them ..
there are a lot of reasons but of the reasons I know is if a Danish man comes to a Muslim
family. What should they talk about, what do they have in common? If someone knocks
on the door and said that I just moved into Mjølnerparken and I just want to say hallo.
That’s fine. The first questions will be: “so where are you from? How old are you? What
language to you speak?” it is always the same, understand “I think your Danish is very
good. For how long have you been in Denmark? Do you pay Danish tax? Do you
understand the rules? Do you know, do you understand.”
These questions are provocative questions. Even though I have lived almost 21 years in
Denmark. They only let me be because I am a diplomat on the embassy. I visited the
national parliament of Denmark or ministry of foreign affairs and other places in the
municipality. That’s fine but your Danish is very well. I don’t but anyway. (haha) You
speak Danish very well, for how long have you lived in Denmark, where do you come
from? Where are you from? Do you understand? It is still the same question from the
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day I arrived to Denmark, after 21 years, the same language but of course my Danish
gets better. But anyway there is nothing else to talk about. It is always us they talk
about. The Muslims. He wants to know. Sorry. If I was a Dane and you were a Muslims.
The Danes always want to present and always want to know about your culture, about
you religion. “How does it go with Ramadan? What time to you wake up? What do you
eat? What time do you eat? What are you not allowed to eat?” He starts with these
questions. Ordinary questions. Of course today we have internet. If someone wants to
know something about the world, lesbian, homosexual, there you can find answers to
anything. It is an encyclopaedia. Everything you want to know. But there are still these
questions. He doesn’t know the mentality. If I come and visit you and every single time I
ask you. Or if I ask you something out of limit. Do you understand? When they ask you,
you don’t feel from the third world, but further away, for instance the jungle. (haha) And
this is the problem. The Danes don’t understand a hundred percent the Arabic mentality.
Just like if I ask women “how old are you?” You say something but you wouldn’t say the
exact age. There is a limit. Some questions are embarrassing in our culture. And that is
the problem. The Danes don’t understand even though we tell them a lot of times and
they keep asking these questions. This is annoying. That is annoying. (unclear – laughing
in the background) Another think, Another think. If a woman is wearing a headscarf, a
man is coming, she should sit with him. If a nice woman is coming, what should they talk
about. There is a gap because there is two different cultures. We will never compromise.
Hmm, it is the same, it is the same you think. Both ways. If someone invites you to their
place to eat dinner, fine, but always know something about the man who is coming. You
need some information. Does he eat pig, does he drink? Is he very fanatic, is he very
reserved? He does not eat meat only vegetables, so. This is information you need before
you can invited him. Just like when you travel to South America you always ask what
vaccines do I need? Should I bring winter clothes, summer clothes? Here, understand,
there is some information you need.
Denmark open the border/road, sign the FN convention 21st of May 1951. Denmark
accepts the asylum and immigrants from other countries but they have no clue what to
do. No clue. At that time they open up the border and said yes we are going to get 30.000
immigrants. Fine, here you go. 15-16 years and you don’t do anything. You just receive
unemployment benefit. You don’t need to work, just relax, you came from war. After 1617 years, well these should be activated. Fine. So after 15-16 years they should be
activated. If I am an engineer after 15 years what can I be if I don’t do anything. Every
year, every third months new developments arrives regard to power. That is the first
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mistake. Also when they say every year, every year. Fine enough. Think of Em Ahmed,
she is dead now. She had cancer. She had two valves changed or hmm two heart valves.
She suffered from hypertension. She had diabetes. At the end she hmm, she is.. how old
is she? 56 years old? [unclear voice in the background, there is a discussion about the
age between the wife, daughter and informant]
But what I am saying is, an old lady who is so sick. At the end they force her; you need to
speak Danish. The Danish language. Hmm. If you don’t go to school we cut-back your
social security. Well, what does she say. She can not walk, she is dead anyway. After five
days her husband dies as well. At that very moment. Here you go. Do you understand?
They force her to go to school, learn Danish. But, Hallo! The money they spend in school
and the money for the people who participate. Spend them in the right way right? And
let her retire. The last thing .. it is not just that.. also physiological, when she says, the
mother. If I said to my children; you have to respect the Danes, you should respect the
rules. They are nice, kind and good. Don’t make any trouble.
Yes
But if I told them. If I told them, let’s say I am Em Ahmed. I say; to hell Denmark, go to
hell Denmark, go to hell with the municipality. They, they irritates me. They do .. They
force me”. Everything I say, my son hear it. Of course he gets mad at Denmark and then
they make troubles. Why do they punish my mom, why do they do like that. The Danes
are stupid, they only relax. They receive punishment . Do you understand? The Danes
they start. And Denmark doesn’t think like that. If you respect my mom, of course you
mom say that you should respect them, maybe they give you free food. They give a
house and hospitals and so on. You shouldn’t make any trouble. But nevertheless if I say
something bad about Denmark, he copies it, takes it and then he solves the problem on
his own. No one thinks of it.
Thank you. We have one last question.
Could you imagine yourself living in an area where the majority of the inhabitants
are Danes?
No no, I hate them (ha ha) No it is not that. (smiling). As I told you from the beginning, it
is a big thing in this area. I have never thought about it. I have live in Danish areas. For
instance Amager, Amager Fælledvej or Grønbjerg Kirkegade or Kgs. Nytorv. It is Danish.
When I came to Denmark, I never thought of, that I should decide in which area I would
like to live. When I am in Denmark I should feel the Danish atmosphere. Isn’t that right?
Danish schools, Danish universities and Danish people. I did not expect just to live
among Arabic people. It was not chosen, it was unexpected. I did not choose because of
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Mjølnerparken. There were no, do you know what. I remember when my wife and I
were sitting at the balcony, drinking coffee and all the nice ladies were bathing here.
Fine enough. Now I don’t see them anymore. They are all gone. It is true. They were
sunbathing and they made small pools for the children. A hundred percent Danes. I was
happy about it but after five years then people started to .. do you understand? It was a
super lively area. No problems, never had any problems. Most Danes. My neighbour.
There was only one immigrant in the building and that was me. Suddenly, I have no idea
what happened. I didn’t think about it. I was busy with me university and job. I left
around five and I was back around six or seven. So I don’t have time to look who is
outside. Suddenly when I am done with university and have off or just like I have five
days working days. What happened? (haha) what happened? There were flowers
everywhere, afterwards there where trash and crap. Where did people go? Where is my
neighbour? Where is Susan? Where is Anette? Where are they? Do you understand? That
was what happened. But as I also told you people don’t feel well in Danish areas. As we
say. Those immigrants in Danish areas they don’t understand each other, they will not
visit each other. They will not play with each other. Don’t want to be contact. So there
are some problems. That’s why we have these areas. So that is fine.
So you wouldn’t move away from here?
Hmm my opinion is no. hmm. Because I travel a lot. Hmm. And the children feel good
here because. As I see it, there aren’t any problems for me. Everything fends of one’s
own. Even though my daughter is 20 years old she drives back and forth. I have no
problems.
So you feel save?
Yes, very. More than outside. Okay . Wrong or dangerous things are not only in this area.
It doesn’t matter. That guy, Søndergaard, who beats up his wife and children, he is a
Dane. The Dane who hit the little Turkish boy, the news paper deliverer. He was a Dane.
And the ones who kills their sweethearts or the girlfriend who throw her boyfriend out
of the window, she was also a Dane. The Dangerous things are not only in this area.
Okay. Do you have anything you want to add?
Summary
He moved to Mjølnerparken because his wife got pregnant. He knows many people but
he only sees his friends when he gets time. He tells us that the culture can’t be broken. It
will always exist and cannot be mixed. The only relationship he has with Danes is when
he is working and when his daughter brings friends home. He would not move away
because of his daughter has all here friends around Mjølnerparken.
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He feels frustrated when meeting new Danes because they always ask the same
questions. Even though he has lived in Denmark for 21 years he is still treated like a
foreigner.
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Informant 4
06-12-2011, 7 pm.
Bold writing: Interviewer
Normal writing: Informant
-
Age: 45
-
Sex: man
-
Ethnic background: Palestinian
-
Job: Engineer
Have you lived elsewhere and why did you move to Mjølnerparken?
Hmm, yeah. Well, when I came to Denmark in 1986 I lived in Vordingborg. I wasn’t
married back then. I was alone. Then I was going to study engineering in Copenhagen.
That was back in 1989. I took 9th and 10th grade in 1986 and 1987. Then I went to high
school for a year. I took three years in only one year. Then when I started studying
engineering in Copenhagen I moved to Nærum. I was living in dormitory. Then I got
married and then I found an apartment in Holte, and we had our first child in Holte.
Then we had to move here. The family was living here. I have a big family. Her [the wife]
family was also living here. She is from Lebanon. Obviously we wanted to be close to our
families. But why? That’s a long story. Do you want me to talk about the reasons why we
moved here?
Yes, please
Well, I think it is an old habit. It has something to do with the way we were living in
Lebanon. There were wars in Lebanon. And I was born and raised in a refugee camp in
Lebanon, Beirut. My father made a decision to move out of the refugee camp, because he
thought that it was a bit too much for the family. But that was a big mistake. Because
when you move away from your own kind, then you have to live under others standards
and be like the others. You can feel them looking at you because you are Palestinian
from a refugee camp. That wasn’t nice. It wasn’t.
In the 1980’s; 1985, 1986, 1987 there was war against the Palestinians from the
Lebanese military and then we were hit hard, because we were living outside and away
from our own. Besides all that… I wouldn’t call it racism in Lebanon, it was politics. But
it certainly felt like racism, because people were pointing at you wherever you went;
you are a Palestinian.
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My father took this decision and we didn’t feel secure at all. We felt unsafe. When we are
living among our own and things happen, it is on all of us. When you are living outside,
you feel a hundred times worse than those living inside. The refugee camp was very big,
not something with tents or that kind of stuff. There are houses. They were very close
built up in the refugee camp. We felt really good when we lived inside. Really good. The
condition wasn’t on its highest. But regarding the security factor; it was very safe for us
to live inside the camp. And I think I have it from back then. I want to live with my own
kind. If I have the opportunity to buy a house or an apartment outside, I wouldn’t. My
aunt lives here, and I have around 6-7 cousins also living in here. My wife’s family is also
living here. 4-5 cousins. Her aunt is living right beside us too. So it’s kind of a way we
have learned to live by. If you want to survive, you should start with your own [people].
We are the first generation. I came here alone. My family is still living in Lebanon. When
we lived outside with the Danes, we felt that we were missing something. I felt it very
strongly after I got married; I am missing something. The support from my own. I didn’t
get that when I was taking an education, there weren’t any Palestinians in the
engineering college back then. There was perhaps two. So, I was missing someone to
support me and then I moved in with my own. Even though we lived in Holte, we were
spending time in Mjølnerparken almost every day. My wife had just come from Lebanon
and there weren’t any Arabic families in Holte then. We were maybe the only one. So,
when I was at school and she was home alone, she felt lonely because there weren’t any
Arabic friends around her. Then we took the decision to move, and the best place is
Mjølnerparken. We had a lot of relatives and therefore it was obvious that we should
move here. It was very easy.
So it was for security reasons?
First of all it was because of that, then because of our families and to be with our own
kind.
Can you describe your relations to your neighbours?
In here?
Yeah, inside Mjølnerparken. How are your relations?
There are a lot of people living in Mjølnerparken and we know a lot of people. But we
don’t have a close relationship with all of them. It is a little divided. After you have the
children you get another relation. When we only had one or two kids, we visited each
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other a lot. Almost every day. When I was at school or working would the women come
and have a nice time. When I come home in the afternoon, men come and visit me. But
when the family grew, these kinds of visit become more and more rare. We still have a
tradition; we have to visit each other. If we don’t do it, it’s because we live just beside
each other. Which means that we men meet in clubs or at the yard. Also because the
apartments are so small it’s only the women and children that meet in homes. The boys
meet in the yard because there is a lot of space. The girls and women need at little more
privacy, so they meet here. If my friends come and visit, 4-5 will come and we would sit
for 5 hours. That would prevent my family to move around… hmm, you could say that
their freedom will be impaired in this apartment because it’s not very big. So when I
want to meet with my friends, we would arrange to meet in cafes or when my wife and
family aren’t home we meet here. The women meet in the clubs or here, and then I leave
and visit my friends. We meet almost every day with our friends. You don’t need to have
relationship to all your neighbours, but you need to know them. It’s really good to know
all your neighbours because there is need for support and to help each other. We have a
lot of stories in here. I used to travel a lot, or us. I and my wife used to travel a lot. Every
year. Our children stayed home alone. I feel safe about that. If I was living in Holte I
would never do that. Last year we had six children that stayed home alone. Two of them
are very young; 6 and 7 years old. I would never do that in Holte. You only do that when
you are living with your family, like if we were in Lebanon. We do that here because I
knew that my cousins and neighbours would take care of my family. And that is what
they did, it was very beautiful. They got food and women came to visit them to make
sure they were good in the 21 days we were away. Those relations become stronger
when we know each other and amplified further when one needs help. That requires
that we are there. Our neighbours just went to Lebanon and the girls have visited them
almost every day to see if they need anything and to make them food. That are the kind
of things we miss from our countries and you couldn’t find if you were living outside
Mjølnerparken.
So, you think the life inside Mjølnerparken is similar to a life in Lebanon?
It does. If you think about the fact that we Palestinians living here, fled from Lebanon
due to the war. They came to a whole different society where families are independent
of each other and even the children inside the family are completely independent from
each other. They can work, and travel on their own and easily survive without each
other. They are independent. Which there is nothing wrong about. That’s what they are
used to the last 60 years because Denmark has been peaceful after the war. So people
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have created a pattern of how they should live their lives. But we have a hard time doing
that when we come from a society where we were gathered as a whole and then come to
Denmark and live different places and afterward convert to this pattern. That’s pretty
hard. But the next generation is more independent of our traditions in regard to living
beside each other in Mjølnerparken. I think the majority will chose to live outside. I
think so.
Do you participate in social arrangement for instance the Eid-party [holy event for
Muslims] in Mjølnerparken?
Uuh, yeah, a lot. I have always… Since I came to Denmark I have been politically and
socially active. I became vice president in Mjølnerparken ten years ago. I have been a
member of the board in ten years. Since the time I moved here in the 1980’s and up to
2006 I think. Politically, I was a member of Nørrebro local council in several years and I
have been a member of Radikale Venstre in the past 15-16 years. I have also been cofounder of local associations. So, if someone is founding an association I become a part
of that, because I know the rules and what needs to be done while also doing the social
work; parties and dinners. We often used Nørrebro-Hallen to make integration projects.
These arrangements are in addition to my everyday work. I have also had a tent every
year at Nørrebro market-day. I have always taken part in all projects and social work
about integration and immigrants. I am also responsible for Dansk Halvmåne [Danish
crescent moon] in Copenhagen; we help the poor and children. We have an office in
Heimdalsgade. I am responsible for that office. We have always been engaged with that
kind of work. The children too.
What do you have in common with the other inhabitants of Mjølnerparken –
according to norm and values, religion?
Other than that?
Do you have a common culture?
Of course, there is a common culture. There are a lot of Palestinians living here and
there are many traditions we have brought with us from Lebanon. We have norms
regarding the older and how we treat each other. If a family member gets sick, we have
these norms and traditions; we support the rest of the family. For instance if a dear one
passes away, we gather and support each other which we also do if someone needs help.
Of course we also have the factor of religion, which is a very big part of our lives. When
we have Ramadan and Eid parties, I started to decorate several years ago, like you do at
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Christmas. My balcony looks like a Christmas tree. Ha ha. So people can see it. Both
people in Mjølnerparken and those taking the train. They can see there are a crescent
and Ramadan decorations. When the other inhabitants of Mjølnerparken see these
decorations they want to do the same as well. That’s also norms we have from our
countries. Why should we hide it? Just show it. You have Christmas and we have our Eid
parties and Ramadan. We have two parties instead of one. That’s what I’m used to say
“we have Christmas twice instead of once”. Religion affects our lives a lot in here. It does
because we are Muslims and there are a lot of norms. We remind each other about these
norms regarding religion. If someone doesn’t understand a lot about these norms then
we try to explain what you are supposed to do. We have norms regarding marriage of
our kids. There is a “roadmap” we follow. We tell them that it could be the right way if
they don’t know how these norms will be observed. The kid can’t act independently;
they should go through their families to keep them close. If a child try to act
independently it would tear the family apart. We also try to help each other with these
norms, tradition and religion. If someone makes a mistake we try to tell the parents “you
can do it this way, instead of tearing your family apart”. There is always a way out.
When have you last visited or had a visit by someone who doesn’t speak the same
language as you, for instance a Dane?
Every day. I meet with then every single day. In the office at work and outside.
Could you imagine yourself living in an area where the majority of the inhabitants
are Danes?
I would say that at some point, if the economy was very strong and less racist…. I
wouldn’t say… hmm, that look you get sometimes. When people are looking at you, you
can feel it. I try not to get my children to think much about it. But they are going to
experience it anyways. If you asked me before the Muhammad drawings, would I say
yes. That was the plan to move outside and buy our own house. We had it all planned
but then the Mohammed drawings occurred. Back then I was a member of the local
council and you could see it. There was also a Danish member of the parliament with us.
The others were very sweet and polite. But you will always experience something you
don’t like. As a father I have a responsibility to think about that. “Why should my
children experience what I have experienced in regards to racist discrimination in the
labor market for instance?” it’s not like that overall in Denmark. If you are educated
have qualifications and is good at your job you can go anywhere without saying if you’re
Palestinian or not. But there will always be some places where you will find difficulties
with getting on with your work-life and career. But you go 15 years back; it was a little
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hard but after the economy grew very strong around year 2000 there wasn’t so much
talk about it. It almost disappeared. Because people started working; if you had
diplomas and experience you could get a job. I was chief for an IT company in
Copenhagen in 2001. In my department I was IT manager in many years. It was very
good. Afterward I moved to science ministry and it was around that time that we
thought about buying our own house but then the Muhammad drawings happened.
Then I thought about if should wait for a little while. First there was 9/11 and it went
down again but then the Muhammad drawings happened and it was all wrong again. But
the reality in Denmark isn’t like that. We know that more than 80 percent of the
population isn’t racist. Those who are… I wouldn’t call then racists; they just lack
information and are prejudice. Some people are racists within themselves and those are
familiar. You know who they are. They are against everything black and religion; they
are simply against a certain human race. You can’t do something about that. It was my
responsibility to think about if we should or not. Then we experienced something in
school. Two of my children experienced something in school in form of comments that
could be racists, if you interpret them right. That’s when we ended the idea of moving.
Afterward we noticed how our kids were treated in Mjølnerparken and then I thought
“we should we move from here?” the media and the government out there decided that
Mjølnerparken is a ghetto and put us on a list. I don’t care about that, I have a good life
here with my children. I have also asked my children many times, if they want to move
from her and they stopped the whole thing After the Muhammad drawings I bought a
house in Sweden but the children stopped the process. They didn’t want to move at all.
That’s good and bad. There are advantages and disadvantages about life here; you wish
for your children to be educated but when they look at their friends they see that they
don’t care about education. That’s when you discuss with them. Because they should
take an education, it’s not enough to be only educated when you have the opportunity to
take a high education. It’s free and you should do it. You can move wherever you want if
you have a high level of education. I have gotten jobs in Ireland and Canada wherever I
want. Most of the youth in Mjølnerparken look at their friends and say “why should I
become an engineer, because my friend is working as an office assistant?” that’s how
their ambitions level is, we were like that when we lived in the refugee camps. It was
important just to get any kind of education and have an income. Then you come to
Denmark and think “what’s going on?” if you take the kids and move them somewhere
else - I know families who live on the outside – you see another mentality. The kids are
thinking about sports and music in their free time and when it comes to education; they
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wants to become doctors, lawyers and so on. The mentality is different out there, and
that is the disadvantages about living here. The advantages are the security and sense of
belonging. You always know where your kids are and that’s an advantage for me. The
disadvantages are that they look at each other and compare themselves with someone
who is working at Kvickly. That’s their role model, unfortunately. It has nothing to do
with language, they can all speak Danish. There was big propaganda about children who
couldn’t speak Danish. But they all speak Danish. There isn’t anyone here who doesn’t
speak Danish. All of our kids speak Danish, and they speak it well. Perhaps their
language level isn’t as good as a regular Dane but that ends when the kids start in school.
That’s not something to be worried about. It is education that one should be worried
about.
Summary
Informant 4 moved to Mjølnerparken so his wife could be with other Arabic people and
their family. He compares living in Holte to living outside the refuge cap in Lebanon. The
relationship with his neighbours was better when he did not have children. Back then he
had time to see friends. But he feels good with letting his six children be alone in
Mjølnerparken for 21 days because he feels safe in there and knows his neighbours will
look after his children. The first people that moved into Mjølnerparken were from
refugee camps. When they came to Denmark they needed to start their lives from
scratch, therefore they have made a pattern in their life’s that reminds of the life in
Lebanon. He takes part in the political life in Nørrebro. He feels that there are many
norms which origins from his home countries, like helping the elderly, religion, and
learning the children about the norms and values from Lebanon. The informant has a lot
of contact to Danes, he talks to them every day. He would like to move away because of
the bad reputation Mjølnerparken has. But this changed after the Muhammad crisis and
9/11. Now he feels that the Danes are looking differently at him, and discriminating him.
Therefor he does not wish to move any longer.
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Informant 5
07-12-2011, 5 pm.
Bold writing: Interviewer
Normal writing: Informant
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Age: 67
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Sex: woman
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Ethnic background: Palestinian
Job:
Have you lived elsewhere and why did you move to Mjølnerparken?
Yes, I was living in Gentofte before moving here, but only for a few years. Back then our
rent was paid by the municipality. We had just come to Denmark so obviously neither
my children nor I could speak Danish and therefore we weren’t working to be able to
support ourselves. Anyway, because the rent in Gentofte was very high the municipality
chose to move us. First they found an apartment for us in Hellerup but it was with only a
toilet. No bath. So when you had to shower, you were supposed to leave the apartment
and go to a common place in the basement. Because we weren’t too happy about that,
we searched for a place on our own. My son contacted Lejerbo and found an apartment
for us here, so we took it. We didn’t know anybody here back then, and there weren’t so
many inhabitants. But it has certainly changed the last 20 years.
Can you describe your relations to your neighbours?
My neighbours are like family to me. They are a big part of my life. Especially because
I’m old and without work I can easily get bored, but because my neighbours visit me all
the time and we have this relationship with each other I don’t have that feeling at all. My
door is always open and people come in and out all day. Because we are also living close
to each other, they often come to visit me in their night gowns. Ha ha. I like that there
isn’t any awkwardness and that you for instance don’t have to call before visiting
someone. Well, of course sometimes we do, but in general we don’t have to. These
relations are the reason for why I love living here.
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Do you participate in social arrangement for instance the Eid-party [holy event for
Muslims] in Mjølnerparken?
Well, yeah I did participate in the Eid-party. Everyone did. But I’m not active in
associational work, you know I’m old. Ha ha, don’t agree with me! But because as I said,
the people here are like family we often get invited to parties and stuff like that. For
instance if someone is getting married.
What do you have in common with the other inhabitants of Mjølnerparken –
according to norm and values, religion?
Hmm, well due to the fact that almost everyone living here is Palestinian we share a lot;
religion, culture and so on. But the important thing for me is the language, because I
don’t speak Danish and I wouldn’t be able to communicate with the people living here if
they weren’t able to speak Arabic. But what I like a lot is how people feel safe here. We
recognize the surroundings from our own countries and that’s why we get a sense of
belonging and security. Here we don’t have to put our guards up and protect ourselves
from the Danish society, which appear to us as very cold and sometimes unwelcoming.
When have you last visited or had a visit by someone who doesn’t speak the same
language as you, for instance a Dane?
I don’t speak Danish, so that the main reason why I don’t get visitors that doesn’t speak
Arabic. But I consider myself as an open person and I don’t mind at all if non-Arabic
people like to come and visit me.
Could you imagine yourself living in an area where the majority of the inhabitants
are Danes?
Yeah of course I could, we are living in Denmark. I love Denmark and the Danes and
maybe I would learn to speak a little Danish. But I will certainly miss my life here. Hmm,
I think in theory I could imagine myself living in a Danish neighbourhood, but in reality I
couldn’t leave this place.
Summary
She tells us that her relationship with her neighbours is very good and that her door
always is open for the neighbours. She goes to the activities in Mjølnerparken, but she
does not help with arranging them because of her age. She shares the same norms and
values as the rest of the neighbourhood. But she cannot speak Danish therefore she only
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speaks Arabic with the inhabitants, and therefore she does not have contact with Danes.
In theory she could see herself living outside of Mjølnerparken, but in reality she does
not think it is possible.
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