Sikh Immigrants’ Views and Strategies of Integration into Swedish Society - A Qualitative Study of First Generation Sikhs in Skåne

Sammanfattning: The aim of this essay is to acquire enhanced knowledge about the views and the strategies that Sikh immigrants of the first generation, who reside in the province of Skåne in Sweden, are using for becoming integrated into the Swedish society. From my own participation in some of the activities that have been organized by the Sikh community in Malmö I became interested in issues regarding integration, and especially how Sikh immigrants perceive and use various strategies for becoming (or not) integrated into the Swedish society and culture. This study is based on fieldwork in Skåne and qualitative interviews with first generation Sikh immigrants. In order to examine if there are differences in the views and strategies for integration among Sikh immigrants who have migrated for various reasons, the informants selected for interviews are both male and female migrants with different migration histories. The study analytically distinguishes between various types of integration – cultural, social, economic and political – and investigates how Sikh migrants perceive their own integration within these fields and in what ways and to what extent they are using similar or different strategies to becoming integrated in the Swedish society.