Integration och socialt arbete i Danmark : en problematisering av integrationsbegreppet och dess diskurser i ett postkolonialt perspektiv

The aim of this M.A.-thesis in social work is to problematize the assimilatoric concept of integration and its discourses in a postcolonial perspective in relation to social work in Denmark. As a support theory I use symbolic interactionism. By using these theories I show how the concept of integration and its discourses, when its aim is assimilatoric, can be understood and problematized with concepts as binary oppositions and hegemony. It is shown that the construction of the discoursive other is a useful term as an instrument of interpretation of power in general. The relevance to social work in relation to the social workers double powered positions, professional and cultural power to define 'the other', in social work with ethnic minorities is shown in relation to the post colonial perspective with support of symbolic interactionism. The white western world hegemony and the social workers power positions in relation to the clients fits to the theoretic frame chosen in the thesis. A second aim in this thesis is to point to new ways for social work and to the necessity to reflect over a globalized world characterized by international migration, ethnic relations and diversity