Browsing by Subject "multilingual space"

In the last couple of decades, Helsinki Metropolitan Area has been attracting more migrants; however, there is a need for city policies in terms of retaining newcomers and fostering pluralism. Public libraries, as diverse social spaces, play an important role in creating inclusion for segregated and marginalized groups, as well as new residents who would like to experience a community feeling. This master thesis aims to analyze the ways in which Helsinki city libraries serve as ‘multicultural safe spaces’ for the migrant women in the city. Following the theoretical framework of Jochumsen et al. (2012) and Grossman et al. (2021), the paper utilizes the “four spaces” categorization and explores, a) how migrants benefit from the libraries as spaces of learning, inspiration, meeting, and performativity and b) how they navigate “multiple belongings” (Pfaff-Czarnecka, 2013) that emerge between these spaces. Participant observation was conducted at Oodi, Itäkeskus, and Pasila libraries, combined with semi-structured interviews with 23 migrant women from Portuguese-Spanish-speaking countries. The paper’s premise is that libraries wherein the four spaces are more visible, such as Oodi, multiple belongings can rise organically and migrants navigate between these spaces electively choosing the ones that match their life situation. In smaller libraries, however, the learning space is the most used space amongst the other three, which interferes with the migrants’ development of sense of belonging to the local/neighborhood community. The research suggests re-planning of smaller libraries in a way that allows more room for more social interaction and support migrants’ in their longing for ‘finding home(s)’ in Helsinki.