From working hard to being hard working – The maintenance and mobilization of cultural capital among Finnish migrants in Florida

Abstract

<p> This chapter addresses the question of <em>how migrants can draw from and utilize their cultural capital in their new host environment in the domain of work</em>. The empirical study was conducted in the Finnish community in Florida, United States, from February to April 2022. Our empirical findings indicate that contextual-level cultural match, the historically built group image, and activities of and in the migrant community may facilitate and guide migrant workers in their adaptation processes and in constructing a bicultural identity, leveraging both home and host cultures. Such an approach does not require the migrants to change or reject their cultural heritage but rather to strategically select and enforce some aspects of it that are most fitting, usable, or positively distinguishing in their host environment. <br></p>