TY - JOUR

T1 - ‘We need to build strong bridges for this to be a decent place to live’

T2 - Social policy, cultural sensitivity and a humanistic approach is essential when bridging and linking social capital

AU - Christensen, Tina Wilchen

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - This article provides a prototypical model for how a universal welfare state can approach what have been described as ‘wicked’ problems by encouraging collaboration between majority and ethnic minority populations to overcome differences in cultural frameworks, social and political polarisation. Based on an ethnographic case study, the article investigates the impact of social work informed by cultural sensitivity in an ethnically diverse and semi-marginalised residential area in Denmark. It argues that the culturally sensitive approach of social workers, combined with their involvement in a network called the Sociocultural Village initiated by the local municipality, increase the flow of resources from the centre to the periphery. This social network seeks to promote community building at a time when society is increasingly being polarised, influenced by the far right’s framing of the minority population as ‘foreigners’ and as a threat to Danish society

AB - This article provides a prototypical model for how a universal welfare state can approach what have been described as ‘wicked’ problems by encouraging collaboration between majority and ethnic minority populations to overcome differences in cultural frameworks, social and political polarisation. Based on an ethnographic case study, the article investigates the impact of social work informed by cultural sensitivity in an ethnically diverse and semi-marginalised residential area in Denmark. It argues that the culturally sensitive approach of social workers, combined with their involvement in a network called the Sociocultural Village initiated by the local municipality, increase the flow of resources from the centre to the periphery. This social network seeks to promote community building at a time when society is increasingly being polarised, influenced by the far right’s framing of the minority population as ‘foreigners’ and as a threat to Danish society

KW - social work, crime prevention, cultural sensitivity, far right, racialisation

M3 - Journal article

JO - Nordic Journal of Social Research

JF - Nordic Journal of Social Research

SN - 1892-2783

ER -