Development and appropriation of an integration policy for sport: how Danish sports clubs have become arenas for ethnic integration

Abstract

To answer why sports clubs have been ascribed a central role in resolving integration issues in Denmark, this article refers to the anthropology of policy. First, policy is defined as what Mauss has called ‘a total social fact’. In other words, policy is a social phenomenon that reflects the history and culture of the society in which it is created. Second, policy is seen as discourses that are articulated by specific institutions, and third, the anthropological perspective focuses on the ways in which policy is applied and interpreted in practice. The first part of this article therefore explores Danish immigration history and the development of an integration policy that currently focuses on adaptation of the cultural values and norms of immigrants. The second part of this article looks at current state funds that aim to promote this kind of adaptation through sports. It becomes clear that sports clubs are seen as organizations that distribute social capital, promote equality in society and facilitate informal learning. The third part of this article refers to a number of studies that highlight the ways in which club leaders, coaches and members (with ethnic Danish as well as non-Danish ethnic background) appropriate these political assumptions.

Keywords:

• immigration
• history
• anthropology
• civil society
• ethnicity

Notes

1. Downloaded 19 January 2011 from http://www.dst.dk/Statistik/ags/Publikation.aspx?address=indvandrereidk2010.

2. In an account of the minority policies in nation states Krag describes a continuum between striving towards homogeneity and pluralism, respectively. Assimilation means that homogeneity is sought and the minority is expected to absorb the majority's culture, while integration in the original sense of the word means creating a new unity, where the different groups maintain parts of their own identity while developing a new joint identity.

3. The so-called voluntary integration effort also appears as a political priority area, as are vulnerable residential areas, which are targeted with several funds aimed at sports clubs including strengthening the voluntary work in the most socially deprived areas (2 million DKK in 2010).

4. All information about the three funds is collected from the website of the Ministry of Refugee, Immigrant and Integration Affairs (updated 26 April 2010) downloaded 27 April 2010 from: http://www.nyidanmark.dk/da-dk/Integration/puljer.

5. The Ministry of Refugee, Immigrant and Integration Affairs’ website (updated 24 March 2010) and downloaded 27 April 2010 from: http://www.nyidanmark.dk/dadk/Integration/puljer/puljebeskrivelser/det_frivillige_integrationsarbejde_og_deltagelse%20_i_idraets_og_foreningslivet.htm.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid.

9. The Ministry of Refugee, Immigrant and Integration Affairs’ website (updated 24 March 2010) and downloaded 27 April 2010 from: http://www.nyidanmark.dk/da-dk/Integration/puljer/puljebeskrivelser/foreningsmentorer.

10. The Ministry of Refugee, Immigrant and Integration Affairs’ website (updated 24 March 2010) and downloaded 27 April 2010 from: http://www.nyidanmark.dk/da-dk/Integration/puljer/puljebeskrivelser/forpligtigende_samarbejde_om_viderefoerelse_af_det_frivillige_integrationsarbejde.htm.

11. There are at least two scenarios: (1) professional expertise can enhance the quality of the club's sports activities and administration, thus leading to a better functioning organization or (2) through the association's participation in integration projects that provide specific financial support, expert knowledge is perhaps given greater importance than before, which leads to conflicts between the club's professional and volunteer staff (Seippel 2010, p. 206).