Borders within Borders: Superkilen as the Site of Assimilation
Borders within Borders: Superkilen as the Site of Assimilation

Author(s): Ehsan Sheikholharam
Subject(s): Migration Studies, Asylum, Refugees, Migration as Policy-fields
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Border; Borders; Superkilen; Assimilation;
Summary/Abstract: Debates surrounding immigration in Europe often justify anti-Muslim policies through the discourse of failed integration and “culture wars” (Roy, 2020: 105). This failure is epitomized by the proliferation of isolated neighborhoods in European metropolises. Predominantly non-white immigrant communities close themselves off from the rest of society, creating internal borders within cities (Lapeyronnie & Courtois, 2008). These “ghettoized” spaces, then, become the target for radical groups and fundamentalist ideologies. To explain this phenomenon, often referred to as “community withdrawal,” political discourse points the finger at religion. The inhabitants of these spaces are said to be unwilling to embrace societal norms, which in turn precludes their capacity to integrate into mainstream society. The reason for this unwillingness—as the logic of this xenophobic justification goes—is that the religion of immigrants is incompatible with secular and liberal values. Thus, to be socially and economically integrated, Muslim immigrants should first be culturally assimilated.

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