Work

Acculturation Among Finnish Somalis: An Imitation Game Inquiry Into Bicultural Fluency

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: According to acculturation theories, members of immigrant second-generation minorities hold a broader cultural competence — a bicultural fluency — for living in two cultures, compared to members of the native majority who are mainly limited to the mainstream experience only. In this paper, we employ a new research method to acculturation research — the Imitation Game — to investigate this claim. Our case concerns second-generation Finnish Somalis and majority Finns. With a mixed-methods approach, we examine degrees of cultural competence among members of each group in their mutual interactions. Contrary to acculturation theories, the second-generation Finnish Somali cohort does not display greater bicultural fluency than the Finnish native majority. We show evidence of how cultural fragmentation among the Finnish Somalis and the prevailing social distance between them and majority Finns limit their chances of developing bicultural fluency. The result demonstrates partial sociocultural marginalization among the Finnish Somali second generation, and may indicate a higher risk of marginalization among second-generation immigrants than acculturation theories have suggested. This study presents the Imitation Game as a new way of outlining the sociocultural foundations of ethnic relations in the context of migration and integration, and pinpointing potential domains of social exclusion between or cultural division within groups.

Source: International Migration Review

DOI: 10.1177/01979183231154555

Authors: Otto Erik Alexander Segersven, Ilkka Ari Tapani Arminen, Mika Simonen

Institution: University of Helsinki

Language: English

Topic: Migration, Refugees, and Integration

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,250