The Role of Music in Immigration Integration

Abstract

The meaning of integration is to “make a new whole”. If we define it from an immigration studies perspective, integration is a process that which an immigrant becomes a part of the host society. This master thesis investigated the potentials of music to help immigrants integrate into the host society. Mentioned such potentials obtained by interviewing Fargespill’s 1 members about the musical experiences related to this organization. Fargespill has been selected because of the presence of people of non-Norwegian nationalities. Furthermore, I have explained some characteristics of music that make it effectively related to two elements of integration: social inclusion and social cohesion. These two concepts are used as a substitute in literature; however, they have slightly different meanings. Despite that there are many critics related to the Fargespill organization, according to the interviewee’s experience, music has the potential to help them to provide preconditions of immigration integration (social cohesion) such as having agency, spreading an anti-prejudice attitude, constructing identity, and therefore helps them to participate socially or culturally in the host society (social inclusion).