{"id":921,"date":"2015-03-11T09:36:35","date_gmt":"2015-03-11T08:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imer.w.uib.no\/?p=921"},"modified":"2015-03-11T09:40:56","modified_gmt":"2015-03-11T08:40:56","slug":"imer-lunch-astrid-ouahyb-sundsbo-social-mixing-policies-what-you-want-and-what-you-get","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imer.w.uib.no\/?p=921","title":{"rendered":"IMER Lunch: Astrid Ouahyb Sundsb\u00f8 \u2013 Social mixing policies: What You Want and What You Get"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Friday 13.03.15 12.00-13.30 @ UNI Rokkan centre, Nyg\u00e5rdsgaten 5, Bergen (6 etg)<\/h2>\n

In the publ\"Skjermbilde<\/a>ic debate and contemporary social policies in Norway as well as in other countries, concentrations of \u201cimmigrants\u201d in certain areas of a city are considered to be unfortunate and something which needs to be fought against (see i.e. Gakkestad 2003; Akerhaug 2012). It is anticipated that spatial concentrations of \u201cimmigrants\u201d enforces the social isolation of \u201cimmigrants\u201d and triggers criminal activities, among other aspects. This becomes very obvious when a \u201chigh percentage of immigrants\u201d in an area serves as basis for referring to that area as a \u201cghetto\u201d or \u201cinsecure\u201d (see i.e. S\u00e6ter 2005; Vassenden: 2007; cf. Akerhaug 2012).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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n this lunch seminar, the idea of social mixing, which is not just common in the general public debate but also a manifested major urban policy and planning goal (S\u00e6ter &\u00a0Ruud 2005; Huse, S\u00e6ter &\u00a0Aniksdal 2010; cf. Musterd 2005) will be discussed. By using some illustrations both from the academic debate as well as own empirical work, it is shown that it is necessary to be critical about this concept.<\/p>\n

It is referred to literature arguing that there is a lack of empirical evidence showing that the residential segregation of \u201cimmigrants\u201d has any effect at all, for instance on \u201cintegration\u201d and crime (for instance Musterd 2005; Galster 2007; Lees 2008). Furthermore, it is discussed that the imagination of social mixing as an ideal way to tackle the \u201cmulticultural challenge\u201d might be founded on a highly problematic understanding of \u201cimmigrants\u201c and their norms and values as inherently \u201cbad\u201d (cf. Eriksen 1996: 51). This is shown by drawing on statements from interviews with members from the majority population residing in Oslo.<\/p>\n

Astrid Ouahyb Sundsb\u00f8<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Astrid Ouahyb Sundsb\u00f8 (PhD) is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Georg-Simmel Center for Metropolitan Studies in Berlin. She holds a doctoral degree in sociology from the Humboldt-University of Berlin (2012). From 2012-2014 she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for a Sustainable University at the University of Hamburg. Her main fields of research compromise: Social inequality, residential segregation in cities, migration and interethnic relations. Her most recent publication is Grenzziehungen in der Stadt. <\/em>Ethnische Kategorien und die Wahrnehmung und Bewertung von Wohnorten <\/em>(Springer VS, 2014) where it is discussed whether ethnic boundary making on the side of the majority population could be a possible explanation for the residential concentration of immigrants in Berlin and Oslo.<\/p>\n