Interpreting taskscapes: the rituals of guided Nature-Based (Dis)Integration in Sweden

Abstract

Guided interactions with nature form part of integration programmes aimed at immigrant groups in Nordic societies. Based on data collected on several Swedish Nature-Based Integration (NBI) projects this article examines the rituals nature guides employ on guided walks. It explores how guides enact taskscapes through structured and improvised ritual activity. These taskscapes integrate a moral universe encapsulating nature and society; provide meeting sites for groups of diverse backgrounds; and are a potential base for a wider environmental social movement. I describe moments of apparent integration and conflict over past, present and future usage of nature. Nature guides are prominent in managing tensions and contradictions around integration, a concept containing inherently coercive elements. Guides thus should be aware that their activities may contribute to societal conflicts as well as conciliation. This is of particular relevance with NBI increasingly framed as a potential solution to the ‘problems’ of immigration.