Micro-geographies of administration: a wolf in sheep's clothing? The impact of trust on a street-level approach to immigrant integration

Abstract

Increased global migration to welfare states puts pressure on successful integration. Successful integration is broadly associated with entry into the labour market. Therefore, integration is measured through employment. Attempts to increase migrant involvement in the labour market are often made by street-level organisations, where interactions between individuals from the private and/or public sector interact with the migrants. At this microlevel, seemingly innocuous administrative decisions made by individuals working to increase migrant labour integration are often overlooked, yet, as this study shows, have a significant impact on the perceived success of such projects. Using nonparticipant observation, chronological ordering and framework analysis, this paper investigates the dynamics of trust as a critical, yet underplayed dimension of the immigrant integration process within a Swedish street-level organisation. The findings reveal instances of immigrant commodification, exploitation of the project format and lack of cultural awareness, which can disrupt the delicate psychosocial relations at play, without ever being appreciated in official reports. Moreover, the impact of trust further impacts on the micro-geographies of immigrants and the integration process. We conclude that whilst the results of integration efforts should be evaluated at the macro level, the fundamentals of integration are set and often decided upon already at the street level