North-South entanglements in Somali-Swedish family language policy : Practices, ideologies and everyday challenges

Sammanfattning: This thesis explores the family language policies (FLP) of two Somali-Swedish families living in Rinkeby, Stockholm. It focuses on the relationships between FLP and identity construction in different social spaces. It aims to address three main gaps in the FLPresearch in Sweden: in representation, methodology, and epistemological understandings of family, language, and policy. Most studies focus on families originating in the global North, which renders invisible the practices of families representing minoritized indigenous or immigrants – the South in the North. Moreover, few studies investigate FLP in interaction, resulting in a knowledge gap of FLP as practiced. In general, issues of power in relation to languages, social inequalities and status in society are barely present, yet, understanding relationships between linguistic practices and social structures at different scales seems crucial for understanding how language ideologies emerge and inform FLP. This study thus contributes to the field of FLP by investigating the language practices of two Somali-Swedish families, the language ideologies shaping these practices, as well as the everyday challenges they face in raising children multilingually. It uses an ethnographic design, drawing on interviews and fieldnotes, with attention to researcher positionality. Throughout, the thesis takes a decolonial stance, discussing how North-South entanglements are present in the interactions of marginalized populations and illuminating their experiences of struggle and oppression. Findings suggest that, for these families, FLP is an intentional act of maintaining the Somali language, although practices do not always align with this policy. Participants use in fact a broad linguistic repertoire in their interactions, constructing multiple identities in different spaces through their discursive practices, which are connected to their FLP. These practices are informed by ideologies on the importance of Somali in identity-building and in connecting people within the Somali diaspora, and by the supposed benefits of multilingualism. Participants report challenges in maintaining their FLP, such as the main role attributed to mothers in language maintenance, facing negative reactions to FLP from peers and society, and lack of institutional support. Results from this thesis contribute to redressing the identified gaps by researching participants’ own views on what is important for them and whatchallenges they face, an essential element for a decolonial approach. They also offer a critical perspective on multilingualism in FLP, locating language within southern perspectives. Results could also aid state actors working with Somali-Swedish families, enabling them to offer more focused support regarding raising multilingual children.