My purpose here is to alert you to how culture is loose on the streets of Norway - asindeed in much of the rest of the world. The expression ‘loose on the streets’ is notmine. I take it from the anthropologist Paul Bohannan who thus characterises aphenomenon of our times. ‘Culture’ has run astray. And it is now being used helter-skelterto promote all kinds of special interests.

But can a concept that has gone awry function as a fitting frame for the encounterbetween immigrants and Norwegians? My own answer is no. And I shall propose analternative that can better facilitate mutual respect and understanding.