MELLAN SVENSKHET, FAMILJ OCH EUROPA

Abstract

This thesis examines how second-generation adults with backgrounds in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina understand and negotiate identity and belonging. This study addresses three research questions: how participants experience their identity in relation to ideas of being Swedish, how they relate to their family’s cultural and national background, and how they position themselves in relation to an European identity. The study is based on six semi-structured interviews with adults aged 18-30 who were born or raised in Sweden and have parents from Serbia or Bosnia and Herzegovina. The material is analysed using thematic analysis. The theoretical framework approaches identity as a process and uses concepts from diaspora and identity research, including imagined communities and Bordieu’s work on habitus, field and capital. The research shows that identity is not fixed, but changes depending on social context. Ideas of being Swedish are often described as natural in everyday life, but not always recognized by others. Several participants describe feeling in between different identities, depending on where they are and who they meet. Family background is important for identity through language, traditions, and family stories, even when participants have little direct experience of their parent’s countries of origin. European identity is described as weak and abstract, and mainly becomes visible when compared to non-European contexts. Overall the study shows that identity and belonging are shaped through everyday experiences and social interaction.