Multiculturalism and young people's leisure spaces in Finland: perspectives of multicultural youth

The article sums up the main results of a research project Multicultural Youth, Leisure and Participation in Civic Activities carried out in Finland 2004-2007. Through empirical analyses, interpretations can be made concerning the readiness of youth's leisure communities to adapt to the situation where their members are more and more diverse with regard to their cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Formal education and labour market are crucial but not the only significant areas of integration, especially when young people are in the focus of discussion. Tolerance for multiculturalism in leisure environments and youth communities is still a topic, which has remained largely unexplored. Multicultural youth, whose experiences are analysed in this article, seem to share the opinion that concrete and continuous forms of multicultural leisure action are often lacking, as well as active participants with divergent ethnic backgrounds. The experiences of multicultural youth thus challenge the general optimism of an anti-racist leisure policy. Skin colours, cultural distances and ethnic hierarchies are still elements that regulate informally youth's possibilities to participate in common leisure activities.