The Role of the Safety Net in the Integration Process: Evidence from the Somali Diaspora in Scandinavia

Abstract

This article examines the question of integration of Somali refugees and descendants in Scandinavia through an approach focusing on the practices and understandings of the “safety net,” which is defined as the sum of the strategies put in place to cope with social risks. The analysis sheds light on the normativity enshrined in the safety net and on the implications of the divergences between the integration policies and the Somalis’ conceptualizations and experiences of social security. The article draws on excerpts from 22 interviews conducted between 2015 and 2017 among the Somali diaspora in Scandinavia.

Keywords:

• Integration
• safety net
• social security
• Somalis
• Scandinavia