Reciprocity as a Value in Integration: Integration Workers' Reflections On the Role of Gift-Giving For the Process of Integration

Abstract

This article makes a case for the usefulness of the concept of reciprocity for studying integration. Conceptually, the article draws on a wide disciplinary specter of theories on reciprocity and gift-giving. Concerned with the individual and societal effects of the mutual acts of giving, receiving, and reciprocating, such theories allow to visibilize the value(s) that is created and exchanged through reciprocal relations, and highlight the social and cultural embeddedness of reciprocal norms. Empirically, the article draws on fieldwork inquiries into the value landscape of the integration sector in Sweden. Aside from explicit values, such as gender equality, democracy, or nondiscrimination, the importance of acts of giving, receiving, and reciprocating has manifested itself as a strong, albeit implicit value in the material. Prompted by this insight, this article highlights the ideas and expectations of reciprocal relations that the integration workers reflected on. With these insights, this article adds to the small but increasingly important body of literature that places reciprocity at the heart of integration processes.