Line Lerche Mørck, Associate professor, DPU, Århus University

1. Danish gang seminars as boundary communityCollaboration among all stakeholders – and stakeholder positions Line Lerche Mørck, Associate professor, DPU, Århus University

2. ”Producing the New”Social practice-theoretical research ambitions ”Rising to the concrete” is to produceempiricalstudies deeplyinformed with theory. • Movebeyond research tendencies of abstract theory • Includesocio-historicalchanges, changes in politics, economic and ideologicalconditions (Jean Lave, 2010,2011)

3. How do wedevelop gang prevention, intervention efforts and gang desistance in Denmark? Weneed to produce new We’s (collaborationsbetweenformer criminals, parents, social street workers, police, prison staff, wild youth, voluntary workers, students, social workers and researchers) to comprehensively understand: • Paradoxes, contradictions, and changes in political forces and interest’s at stake • Dynamics of marginalisation in and across the involvedcommunities of practice • Expansivepossibilities and changing the understandings of me, us and ‘the others’

4. Examples of paradoxes • Even though gang conflicts have beenescalating in Denmark since 2008, producingmarginalisation, ethnicpolarization and criminalizing of manyyoung men, we do not have anyuniversity research. Only the research done within the ministery of Justice (by the police research office). • Huge rise in biker-gangs support groups and new conflicts and killings, but noprevention and intervention in relation to groups (such as AK81, Hells Angels)

5. Grundvigs Højskoles gangseminars as boundary community • Communitiesthat overlap two or more groups and thereby offer new potentials for border crossing, boundary positions and collaboration among communities. (Mørck, 2011, 2006: 16-18) • including different groups such as the social street workers, professionals from the ‘‘established social system’’ (prison, police, municipalities, established social work), media and local street communities of young men with ethnic minority, family members and relatives of young men involved in the present Danish gang conflict.

6. Activities between gang seminars (2009-2011) • Writing ‘Outcomes’ (collaborations of workshop leaders, keynotes, and thesis students from DPU, Aarhus University) • Politicalhearing at Christiansborg • New voluntarygroups: OurYouth, Former Gang members (TBM), MothersAgainstViolence • International exchange with gang researchers, professionals and Volunteers

7. Fields of change • More differentiatedunderstandings and more reflected and critical media representations (Outcome, 2011) • Relations of Local police – localcommunity • Prison and gang exit • New groups of volunteers

8. 1. Changes in gang understandings and media representations More differentiatedunderstandingsof biker gangs, geographicbasedgroups and street gangs (Outcome, 2011) More reflected and critical police and media: Signs of change in the media representations of the gang conflict: celebritycritique, trying not to enhanceenemy and gang production, lessracialised gang discourse (Outcome, and Kim Kliver).

9. 2. Police and local communitiesSigns of trust, change and recognition? • Racialised differences in ‘stop and search’-zones produced anger and escalatedconflicts • Less long lasting zones and more focuseduse of stop and searchpractice • New relations and new signs of recognition of the local police at Nørrebro. • Common Workshop (Manchester: Tony & Trevor, DK: Rafik/Gadepulsen +, Marc og Jakob Vilner) • Exchanges between Denmark-Manchester (involves police, politicians, social workers, students and volunteers)

10. 3. Contradictions in prison - gang desistance • Paradox: solitary confinement is the only alternative for inmateswhowants to leave (biker)gangs • New volunteergroups for former gang members (TBM, Michael Green). Presentations, and figthing for change. Participation in Grundtvig Højskoles gang seminar, 2010, was an importantfirst step . Department of prison and …. (Marie Louise) – got4 million kr. to develop and improve exit possibilitieswithinprisons.

11. 4. New Mothers group, boundary positions and network Changes in gang conflicts. The role of rumours: More shooting to kill (not just to scare of / show power): Threatsagainstbrothersof gang members.Young men in the perifery have alsobeenkilled. • Mothersagainstviolenceformed at the last seminar (2011), in collaboration with Søren Lerche, students and Line Lerche Mørck as researcher from DPU • April, 2011: 200-300 women in demonstration againstviolence (Mjølnerparken) • Inspiration by and collaboration with Mothersagainstviolence UK: http://mavuk.org/

12. Litterature Lave, 1999. Læring , mesterlære, social praksis. Nielsen & Kvale (red.): Mesterlære. Læring som social praksis. Hans Reitzels Forlag, 35-53 Lave, 2008 Situated Learning and Changing Practice. In Community, Economic Creativity, and Organization. Ash Amin and Joanne Roberts, eds. Pp. 283–296. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lave, 2011. ChangingPractice. Keynote, ISCAR, 10.9.2011, Rome. Lihme & Soei (2011). Det brune spor. Politiken kronik 24 august. Møller-Andersen & Palm (2011): Outcome – Bandeseminar 2010 - Forebyggelse, bekæmpelse og exit af bandekriminalitet: http://grundtvigs.dk/files/2009/11/Outcome-seminar-Grundtvigs-H%C3%B8jskole-2010.pdf Mørck, L. L. (2011). Studying Empowerment in a Socially and Ethnically Diverse Social Work Community in Copenhagen, Denmark. Ethos, 39(1), 115-137. Mørck, 2010. Expansive Learning as Production of Community. National Society for the Study of Education 109(1):176–191. Mørck, (2006). Grænsefællesskaber – Læring og overskridelse af marginalisering. Frederiksberg: Roskilde Universitetsforlag. Chapters in English: http://www.dpu.dk/forskning/forskningsprogrammer/diversitetoglaering/laeringogoverskridelseafmarginalisering/artiklerogboeger/