Chapter 5: Culture Brokering in Integration Support Efforts for Refugees

The integration of refugees into the labor market and society is widely seen as one of the most profound challenges of our times and many support initiatives are underway to help refugees enter the labor market and the new society. This chapter explores the role of intermediary figures who are at home in more than one cultural context and mediate and support others in bridging cultural boundaries, so-called culture brokers, in these efforts. It deals with how cultural brokering is enacted as part of labor market integration support efforts for refugees and explores the potential consequences of such organizing efforts for the refugees targeted as well as the organizers. The chapter argues that the success or failure of culture brokering is better understood as the result of the actions of the many actors involved in organizing than as being dependent on the skills, attributes and experiences of the individual culture broker. It draws on observations from a qualitative field study undertaken between 2017 and 2019 of two integration support initiatives in Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city.