Multicultural Upper Secondary School Life in Denmark: Identifications, Solidarity and Citizenship

Abstract

Education has played an important role in the development of the Nordic welfare states. As in other European countries, present day Denmark wrestles with the problem of finding ways to handle the increased diversity of its population in terms of, for instance, ethnicity, religion and language. Hence, negotiations and contestations about how to operationalize different forms of multiculturalism on all sorts of multicultural issues are currently on the agenda in relation to the welfare state. This article explores the interaction between ethnic majority and ethnic minority students in an upper secondary school as a micro-sociological laboratory of the multicultural processes and developments taking place in society at large. It is recommended to reflect upon and implement different strategies that could support a ‘citizenship education’ which is needed in order to advance the cohesion of the Danish welfare state in the years to come.