| Summary: | Somalis are often portrayed negatively in the media which we consider to be simplistic andreducing of the subjective identity. This thesis therefore intends to examine how people withSomali background experience their identity and how categorization may have importance totheir identity in relation to the majority population. This is in order to examine howcategorization affects the integration process. The empiric material was conducted through semi-structured interviews using a qualitativeresearch method. The result is based on seven interviews with individuals aged 20–46 years,some of whom were born in Sweden, while others immigrated at different ages. The informantsidentify both as both Somalis and Swedes in different ways. The Somali identity finds its originsin their upbringing, often referred to as something "one only is", whilst the Swedish identityderives from the socialization to the Swedish society and the internalization of Swedish norms.In interaction with the majority population, the informants are categorized as non-Swedes. Theinformants subjective sense of belonging therefore loses importance due to others defining whothey are. The categorization of informants is not exclusively practiced by the majoritypopulation, but also by other Somalis. The result is divided into themes of various meetings toshowcase the contextuality and relationality of identification. Additionally, this thesis alsodemonstrates how the informants deal with such categorization. The result serves a possibleexplanation to the struggle concerning the integration of Somalis in Sweden. The theories usedas tools to understand and analyze the empirical material is Jenkins theory of social identity,Berger and Luckmann’s theory of primary and secondary socialization and Charles Tilly’stheory about durable inequality.
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