Imagined adulthood under transition – Somali-Swedish girls’ life-planning in a late modernity context

Abstract

This article examines how Muslim girls of Somali origin raised in Sweden imagine their adulthood in regard to career and family life. The theoretical framework is social constructionist in that it assumes that children have agency and are capable and competent actors, in contrast to what has previously been generally assumed about children from ethnic minorities, particularly Muslim girls.

The qualitative study consists of an analysis of girls' essays. The findings reveal that their dreams are both consistent with the expectations of their families (in particular, high educational ambitions) and inspired from elsewhere (particularly in terms of future family life). How the girls imagine their adulthood may be seen as an example of how their original culture is subject to change in a new environment that influences possibilities, the pace of detraditionalisation and the extent of individualisation, all of which are typical characteristics of a society in late modernity.

Keywords:

• Somali-Swedish girls
• essays
• transition to adulthood
• life plans
• social constructionism

Notes

1. Muslim-profiled schools are part of the independent school system in Sweden. Independent schools are privately owned and publicly financed. Tuition or other fees are not allowed and the schools are obliged to follow the same curriculum as public schools. There are 10 or so Muslim-profiled schools hosting approximately 1700 students. The Muslim faith in the schools is mostly adhered to through separate lessons for girls and boys during physical education, serving halal food and allowing prayer for those who want it as well as a few days off for Muslim holidays.

2. In this article, clan is used in its emic sense and not as a way of othering the girls in relation to their peers in the West and/or making them look primitive.