Immigrant integration conflicts in Malmö through a development communication lens

Sammanfattning: In the context of significant numbers of Muslim newcomers immigrating to Europe andperceptions of failed integration in Sweden, and in light of the urban conflict andincreasing debates about integration as a one-way or two-way street, this paper sets out a“communication for development”-informed theoretical framework that focuses on thestruggle for social cohesion and immigrant integration in Malmö, Sweden. The paperuses triangulation to view this challenging situation from various perspectives. Not onlydoes this reveal that unemployment and lack of power have taken their toll on agencyamong migrants—particularly Iraqi men—but also that the strongest stories showingimmigration as an asset—particularly Iraqi women—are not being told in the media.Through the use of empirical material from Malmö, this paper contends that participatorycommunication in Malmö is less than participatory, and that integration in Sweden, in itsexpectations, leans uncomfortably close to assimilation. The paper gives examples ofseveral development communication initiatives for integration that have had positiveresults, with strong evidence that community media, as just one example, has proveneffective at improving immigrant integration. The paper concludes that developmentcommunication initiatives show promise for improving social cohesion in Malmö, andthat these can be effective only if the choice to participate, and the choices of initiative,medium and content are made by the migrants themselves.