Changing Countries, Changing Cultures : A Qualitative Study of Cultural Change After Migration

In a time of globalization and multiculturalism, the discourses on migration and social issues have become increasingly focused on culture. Although cultural changes are considered an important part of integration processes, there is uncertainty about what these changes actually are, and how they come about. The purpose of this study is to examine how migrants define and experience culture and cultural changes, and how they construct these changes. Starting from an elaborated version of Ann Swidler’s concept of culture as a toolkit, and through interviews with 19 people who have migrated to Sweden, the study shows that people experience culture as permeating all aspects of their life, intimately linked to their social lives. They also actively use culture as a tool to negotiate between cultural preservation, and integration into a new society. In the process of cultural changes, culture is both the subject of change, and the method for their construction