TY - JOUR
T1 - ‘We need to build strong bridges for this to be a decent place to live’
T2 - Policy, cultural sensitivity and a humanistic approach as essential when bridging and linking social capital
AU - Christensen, Tina Wilchen
PY - 2024/12/17
Y1 - 2024/12/17
N2 - Based on a qualitative investigation with multiple entry points, this article investigates approaches to increase the potential for bridging and linking social capital to emerge in a peri-urban area of public housing in Denmark. The empirical material suggests that the intertwining of top-down and bottom-up approaches strengthens local motivations, initiatives and commitment for the development of social capital. National policy enabled municipalities to engage social workers, who, in collaboration with local volunteers, help facilitate activities that increase residents’ potential for building and linking social capital. This article argues that for residents’ potential for bridging social capital to emerge, the engagement of multi-positioned social workers and local volunteers of different ethnicities – whose actions are informed by a culturally sensitive and humanistic approach – is crucial. Social workers’ simultaneous involvement in the Sociocultural Village, a network initiated by Hillerød municipality, further enables the linking of social capital as their involvement facilitates access to public, private and civil society actors, and material and non-material resources. However, the empirical data suggest that when opinion formers and politicians argue for ‘Danish culture and identity’ linked to a perception of ‘Danes’ as a cultural and ethnic homogeneous nation, the populist and anti-immigrant rhetoric encourages polarisation. Hereby, they counteract the fragile balance of co-existence between the minority and majority populations in a peri-urban area of public housing in Denmark.
AB - Based on a qualitative investigation with multiple entry points, this article investigates approaches to increase the potential for bridging and linking social capital to emerge in a peri-urban area of public housing in Denmark. The empirical material suggests that the intertwining of top-down and bottom-up approaches strengthens local motivations, initiatives and commitment for the development of social capital. National policy enabled municipalities to engage social workers, who, in collaboration with local volunteers, help facilitate activities that increase residents’ potential for building and linking social capital. This article argues that for residents’ potential for bridging social capital to emerge, the engagement of multi-positioned social workers and local volunteers of different ethnicities – whose actions are informed by a culturally sensitive and humanistic approach – is crucial. Social workers’ simultaneous involvement in the Sociocultural Village, a network initiated by Hillerød municipality, further enables the linking of social capital as their involvement facilitates access to public, private and civil society actors, and material and non-material resources. However, the empirical data suggest that when opinion formers and politicians argue for ‘Danish culture and identity’ linked to a perception of ‘Danes’ as a cultural and ethnic homogeneous nation, the populist and anti-immigrant rhetoric encourages polarisation. Hereby, they counteract the fragile balance of co-existence between the minority and majority populations in a peri-urban area of public housing in Denmark.
KW - social work, crime prevention, cultural sensitivity, far right, racialisation
KW - social bridging
KW - linking social capital
KW - co-existence
KW - crime prevention
KW - cultural sensitivity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85213256887&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.18261/njsr.15.1.7
DO - 10.18261/njsr.15.1.7
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1892-2783
VL - 15
SP - 1
EP - 16
JO - Nordic Journal of Social Research
JF - Nordic Journal of Social Research
IS - 1
ER -