The Others as impediments to ‘integration’ into Finnish society: the case of exchange students in higher education

Abstract

Very few studies have tackled the case of exchange students in Finnish society, though their increasing presence is valued and urged by Finnish authorities. This article deals with the intricate concept of “integration” through a discourse analysis of what exchange students in Finland have to say about Otherness. Based on a critical approach to the concepts of integration and politics of differences, the study demonstrates how discourses on the Same, the foreign other and the local (Finns) point to certain patterns in the ways psychological integration is conceptualized by French exchange students in Finland. The study shows how these Others represent impediments to ‘integration’ into Finnish society. Finally, I ask if the predominance of differentialist discourses of integration in this context could be replaced by an alternative vision based on a mélange or mixing understanding of differences.