Migrants In Sweden Research Articles

Navigating the Radar: Descendants of Polish Migrants and Racialized Social Landscapes in Sweden

This article takes interest in descendants of white migrants in Sweden and their experiences of racialization. Although research on descendants in this category is rare, they are sometimes assumed to be unproblematically integrated into Swedish whiteness. The article contributes with an <em>empirically</em> based investigation of the subject by analysing in-depth interviews with an up till now almost non-researched group: people who grew up with Polish parents in Sweden. Inspired by critical race- and whiteness studies, it explores how they express being racialized, how the norms of Swedish whiteness surface in their narrations and how they negotiate these norms. The article makes visible a Swedish version of whiteness that requires on the one hand possession of materialized, physical whiteness, and on the other hand performative abilities, performative whiteness. It shows how these whiteness norms works for people in the special position of descendants to white migrants and that they–in contrast to their migrant parents–possess both these levels of whiteness. Still, they navigate a radar that could make them involuntarily visible and question their inclusion into Swedish whiteness. These results indicate that the Swedish version of whiteness is narrow and also raises questions regarding its change over time.

The role of management controls in managing heterogeneous interests during extreme situations: the Swedish migrant crisis in 2015

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the role of management controls in managing heterogeneous interests during extreme situations.Design/methodology/approachThrough interviews and observations, the authors analyse the Swedish Migration Agency’s management controls and study routines during the peak of the European Migrant Crisis.FindingsPrior to the crisis, the strategy used by the employees was to mediate between two interests (labelled legal security and empathy) to create a workable compromise. During the crisis, however, the authors observed filtering in the form of the previous hierarchical ordering of interests was further strengthened as the employees increasingly relied on just a single interest (the interest which they previously had deemed to be the most important) at the expense of the other interest. The findings suggest that behavioural and social controls helped such filtering; social controls helped certain employees to filter the empathy interest as more important during extreme situations and behavioural controls helped other employees to filter the legal security interest as more important. This help us explain why the authors observe less mediation between the two heterogeneous interests and rather a stricter dominance of one of the interests. The authors also illustrate how especially behavioural controls may become unsupportive of the operations during extreme situations as it consisted of rule-based standards, built to cope with “normal” situations. The heterogeneous interests affected the probability of actors, at times, ignoring behavioural controls when such controls were unsupportive. Actors whose day-to-day operations were mainly guided by the legal security interest remained tightly coupled to behavioural controls even when they felt that these controls were no longer useful. On the other hand, actors who were mainly guided by the empathy interest ignored behavioural controls when they felt that they were unsupportive.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors acknowledge that bias might arise from the reliance on retrospective views of past processes and events, which the authors primarily gathered through interviews.Practical implicationsThe authors highlight an important relationship between heterogeneous interests (i.e. legal security and empathy) and management controls during the crisis and how this relationship can lead actors to fundamentally different actions.Originality/valueThe two bodies of study on the role of management controls in managing heterogeneous interests and the role of management controls during the crisis have been largely unconnected and it is in this intersection that this study contributes.

Home and away: mortality among Finnish-born migrants in Sweden compared to native Swedes and Finns residing in Finland.

BackgroundMost first-generation migrants have lower mortality compared to the native population. Finnish-born migrants in Sweden instead have higher mortality; possibly because of health behaviours established before migration. To increase our understanding of this excess mortality, we compared the cause-specific mortality of Finnish migrants in Sweden to both the native population of Sweden and the native Finnish population residing in Finland.MethodsWe used Swedish and Finnish register data, applying propensity score matching techniques to account for differences in sociodemographic characteristics between the migrants, Swedes and Finns. The index population were Finnish migrants aged 40–60, residing in Sweden in 1995. We compared patterns of all-cause, alcohol- and smoking-related, and cardiovascular disease mortality across the groups in the period 1996–2007.ResultsFinnish migrant men in Sweden had lower all-cause mortality compared to Finnish men but higher mortality compared to the Swedish men. The same patterns were observed for alcohol-related, smoking-related and cardiovascular disease mortality. Among women, all three groups had similar levels of all-cause mortality. However, Finnish migrant women had higher alcohol-related mortality than Swedish women, similar to Finnish women. Conversely, migrant women had similar levels of smoking-related mortality to Swedish women, lower than Finnish women.ConclusionsFinnish-born migrants residing in Sweden have mortality patterns that are typically in between the mortality patterns of the native populations in their country of origin and destination. Both the country of origin and destination need to be considered in order to better understand migrant health.

Exploring the Role of Privilege in Migrant Women’s Self-Employment

This paper launches a discussion for using privilege to understand migrant self-employment. Migrants are a heterogeneous and complex group, yet migrant self-employment studies have not yet considered how privilege provides opportunities or gains. Using mixed-methods this paper explores the role of privilege in migrant self-employment. Life course histories are combined with full-population register data to understand migrant self-employment and to provide a sense of privilege in process. Findings reveal theoretically and empirically how privilege shapes self-employment for women migrants in Sweden with certain groups benefitting more from privilege.

Living situations among undocumented migrants in Sweden: The effects of exclusion from fundamental housing rights

Today, there is limited knowledge about the living conditions of undocumented migrants (UMs) in Sweden. It is hypothesised that Ums’ living conditions increases cases of mental illness among them. The aim of this study was twofold, to explore: the housing situation of UMs in Sweden, and its association to their state of mental health. A cross‐sectional study with adult UMs was conducted in the three largest cities in Sweden in 2014–2016. A total of 104 UMs participated. Based on the results, we can conclude that UMs living in the most vulnerable housing situations have worse outcomes in their mental health evaluations. Depression, anxiety and post‐traumatic stress disorder are more common among UMs who are living in temporary accommodation or sharing a flat with others than among those who do not. UMs are living in housing situations that would force local social service to act were it not that they have UM status.

Employment by HIV status, mode of HIV transmission and migrant status: a nation-wide population-based study.

To compare employment in people by HIV status, mode of HIV transmission and migrant status. Nation-wide population-based register data from 1996 to 2016. All people born between 1940 and 2000 (n = 8587 629) were identified from the Swedish Total Population Register and linked to the Swedish National HIV Register (n = 9492) and Longitudinal Integration Database for Health Insurance and Labour Market Studies. Adjusted prevalence ratios (adjPR) of employment were calculated using Poisson regression. Trends in employment were illustrated in scatterplots with overlaid prediction plots. People with HIV were less likely employed than HIV-negative but with decreasing difference over time [adjPR 0.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.54-0.60 in 1996, adjPR 0.84, 95% CI 0.83-0.86 in 2016]. Female migrants with HIV had the highest increase of employment over time and were more likely employed than HIV-negative female migrants by end of follow-up (adjPR 1.12, 95% CI 1.08-1.16). Swedish-born with present/former intravenous drug use had the lowest employment rates. Individuals with undetectable HIV-RNA viral levels showed higher employment rates (adjPR 1.29, 95% CI 1.20-1.38) compared with those with detectable viral levels. Employment in people living with HIV (PLWH) increased over time but remained lower than for HIV-negative people. HIV was not associated with lower employment in migrants by end of follow-up, indicating that HIV is not a barrier for employment among migrants in Sweden. The heterogeneity of PLWH needs to be taken into account in interventions, and future studies, focusing on access to the labour market in PLWH.

Made in Swedish: diasporisation and lifestyle orientation among Swedish migrant networks in Southern Spain

ABSTRACT The article demonstrates how large social associations are operating at the locus of a community-making related to the networks of Swedish migrants in Southern Spain. The associations are selectively targeting relatively wealthy older (ethnic) Swedish individuals, offering them a home-like social arena with access to a club equipped with well-known facilities and activities from the Swedish tradition. In addition, these associations offers valuable information and services that ensure their members a comfortable lifestyle in Spain but also facilitates a life with close connection to the Swedish society. In this social space, the Swedish migrants meet, socialise and to some extent, consume, rather than making efforts to participate and becoming integrated in Spanish society. It is also obvious how this environment becomes a hub for maintaining links and societal life with the Swedish society. The article argues that the practices used by the social associations in their mobilisation, are becoming part of a ‘diasporisation’ of Swedes in Southern Spain. It is also argued that these practices are both reflecting assumed needs and requests from the individuals in the migrant networks as well as orientating them into a lifestyle that promotes comfort and transnational links with their country of origin.

Involving Men: The Multiple Meanings of Female Genital Mutilation in a Minority Migrant Context

ABSTRACT The paper explores the roles of men in the continuation/abandonment of female genital mutilation (FGM) in a migrant minority community in Sweden. The aim is to contribute to the under-researched area of men’s attitudes towards and experiences of FGM, using frameworks on engaging men, feminist theories on men and masculinity, and intersectionality. It is based on an inductive qualitative design for data collection, including a focus group discussion with 13 male Somali migrants in Sweden. The analysis shows a window of opportunity for involving minority migrant men in prevention and to challenge a minority migrant gender regime. The ambivalent attitudes expressed are based on a will to reflect on roles, a desire to adjust to conflicting social norms and institutional rules, and an interest in the legal, health and medical consequences of FGM. The paper concludes that successful interventions and involvement need to consider local activism, gendered dynamics, masculinities and empowerment; attempts to eradicate FGM will be more successful if they empower women and men.

Multireligious Cooperation and the Integration of Muslim Migrants in Sweden

In recent years, as the number of migrants arriving in Europe has grown, faith-based organizations have become intimately involved in assisting migrants’ short- and long-term integration. This article describes an innovative cooperative project between minority (mosque) and majority (church) religious institutions designed to enhance integration between Muslim migrants and their predominantly Christian host community. Using survey and interview data, this study finds that participants reported enhanced feelings of welcoming, larger networks of friends and acquaintances, and more engagement in activities after participating in the project.

Collaboration in health promotion for newly arrived migrants in Sweden.

As a group, newly arrived migrants in Sweden face inequities in health compared to the general population. Successful promotion of population health requires awareness of and focus on health from several sectors of society. In light of this, the aim was to study the views of local authority officials on collaboration in health promotion activities for newly arrived migrants. Data was collected through five focus group interviews with 23 local authority officials working with the integration of newly arrived migrants in the Establishment Program in a municipality or at the Employment Services in northern Sweden. An inductive qualitative latent content analysis was performed, and the analysis showed that the participating officials considered health promotion as desirable in the Establishment Program, but it also raised complex issues within the existing organisations. The officials described unclear roles, but also possible changes to the organisation that would improve the possibility of working to promote health. The present study adds to the relatively limited knowledge of health promotion in integration activities and offers clinical relevance for policymakers through the officials' suggestions for improvements in the Establishment Program. It also raises important questions for further research.

The re-emergence of Suggestopedia: teaching a second language to adult migrants in Sweden

ABSTRACT Despite previous critical studies on the method, Suggestopedia has re-emerged as a popular method for second language teaching and learning in Sweden. In this article, we focus on what characterises Suggestopedia teaching in Swedish as a second language for adult migrants. Taking a sociocultural perspective, specifically regarding the concepts of mediation, artefacts and scaffolding, we analyse teaching observations and interviews with teachers and students in four classes. The analysis reveals the existence of several mediational mechanisms, in terms of e.g. different visual, aural and fictive artefacts, as well as of scaffolding through a certain sequencing of tasks and mediational texts to help students learn Swedish. Although Suggestopedia as an approach serves to facilitate the students’ learning in many ways, greater attention can be paid to the students’ experiences when conducting the lessons.

Exploring Employability Constructions of Migrants in Sweden and Potential Consequences for Labour Market Entrance Recommendations

In the flexible Swedish labour market, the concept of employability has grown important. Within a neoliberal framework, accountability for one’s possibility to successfully obtain or keep employment rests with the individual. In contrast, within a social welfare discourse the individual is offered care and support in order to gain employment. The present study combined intersectional and discourse analytical approaches with the understanding that individual employability is subjectively constructed in the exploration of labour market induction, employability constructions and categorizations in the discourse used by government agencies directly involved in the labour market integration of newly arrived migrants. Public documents comprising information on labour market entrance, employability and associated concepts such as competence building and career development were analysed. The employability constructions were often contradictory—placed at the crossroads of neoliberal and social welfare discourses—and built on tacit assumptions and influenced by stereotypes. Conveying such employability constructions further could lead to exclusion from long-term employment and have detrimental psychological and health repercussions. Instead, it is of importance to work towards reconstructing migrants’ employability in this new context without damaging influence from inflexible categorizations and stereotypes.

The occupational trajectories and outcomes of forced migrants in Sweden. Entrepreneurship, employment or persistent inactivity?

The current surge in forced migration to Europe is probably the largest and most complex since the Second World War. As population aging accelerates and fertility falls below replacement level, immigration may be seen as a key component of human capital to address labor and skill shortages. Receiving countries are, however, hesitant about the contribution that forced migrants can make to the local economy. Coupled with increasing pressure on welfare services, they are associated with increased job competition and crime. Underutilization of immigrants’ skills is, however, a waste of resources that countries can scarcely afford. Understanding the labor market integration process of forced migrants is thus critical to develop policies that unleash their full skills potential and ultimately foster local economic productivity. While prior studies have examined the employment and salary outcomes of these immigrants at a particular point in time post-migration, they have failed to capture the temporal dynamics and complexity of this process. Drawing on administrative data from Sweden, we examine the occupational pathways of forced migrants using sequence analysis from their arrival in 1991 through to 2013. Findings reveal polarized pathways of long-term labor market integration with over one-third of refugees experiencing a successful labor market integration pathway and an equally large share facing a less fruitful employment outcomes. Our findings suggest education provision is key to promote a more successful integration into the local labor market by reducing barriers of cultural proximity and increasing the occurrence of entrepreneurship activity.

Unemployment services for newly arrived migrants in Sweden: The privatization and rebureaucratization of the introduction programme

AbstractA recent policy reform in Sweden reorganized the management of newly arrived migrants' entrance into the labour market, which resulted in the Swedish Public Employment Service being given coordinating responsibility and introducing private service providers. Building on qualitative interviews with public employment officers and private actors, this study focuses on how the political contradictions in the new 2‐year introduction programme are managed at the organizational level. In the article, it is argued that although both public employment officers and private actors experience difficulty separating unemployed migrants' need for social support from the workfare ambitions of the programme, aspects of privatization—such as freedom of choice and the service specification—further complicate this situation. Thus, the individualization aspects of the policy should be viewed as countering some of the more controlling aspects of the reform, thus, in effect, neutralizing its liberalizing tendencies.

Brown Eyed Boy: Narrating Internalized Oppression and Misogynoir in Jonas Hassen Khemiri’s Everything I Don’t Remember

The rise of anti-immigrant sentiment and right-wing extremism in Sweden in the wake of growing migration has affected Sweden’s global reputation as a model progressive welfare state that prioritizes human rights and generously extends citizenship, welfare, and labor rights to migrants and asylum seekers. In Jonas Hassen Khemiri’s Allt jag inte minns [Everything I Don’t Remember] (2015), xenophobia, Islamophobia, and racialized heteronormativity appear in the unlikely form of Vandad, a hypermasculine Muslim immigrant who has secretly fallen in love with another Swedish Arab man. This study involves a narratological analysis of how internalized racism inspires the novel’s narrator of color to produce figurative narrative acts of internal colonialism—that is, violent narrative acts, made possible by the effects of racism, against other non-white characters in the story. The essay additionally explores how the objectification of non-white women’s bodies and acts of misogynoir, the anti-Black misogyny that Black women experience, by queer men of color in the text operate as secondhand technologies of oppression manufactured by the political discourse of the extreme right. The essay concludes with a critique of the far right’s exploitation of collective cultural memory to mass-produce white nationalism in the guise of tradition and the implications this has for non-white Swedes and migrants in Sweden.

The Utilisation of Migrant Capital to Access the Labour Market: The Case of Swedish Migrants in Helsinki

This article explains from a Bourdieusian perspective how migrants gain access to fields in which their resources are valued and their cultural and social capital can be mobilised. Interviews conducted among Swedish migrants in Helsinki (Helsingfors) illustrate how the migrants have been able to utilise various forms of capital to gain access to the local labour market. Knowledge of the Swedish language and society may constitute cultural capital, but only in specific occupations and social contexts. The article highlights the importance of access to social networks among Finnish spouses and friends in finding information about the jobs in which knowledge of the Swedish language and society is valued. The results indicate that the resources of migrants do not always constitute a valuable social capital, migrants also need to be able to mobilise their resources in a given social context. It is also argued that there may be specific forms of cultural and social capital that are only available to migrants as a consequence of their being migrants. This migrant capital consists of the various forms of capital that are connected to the migration process and are mobilisable by the migrants.

Promoting sexual health literacy among migrants in Sweden

Abstract Background Migrants constitute a growing share of the European population. Refugees and migrants in Europe have a higher risk for poor sexual and reproductive health than the native-born population. These differences can be explained by limited access to sexual health care, family planning and prevention. Newly arrived migrants in Sweden are offered a programme encompassing civic orientation provided in mother tongue by communicators. MILSA web-based education platform aims to secure a national standard for civic orientation. Over a three-year period, 200 communicators across Sweden will receive training. This study will explore civic orientation as an arena for health communication, and the role of the communicators for delivering sexual health information. It will identify active components for the delivery and uptake of sexual health information. Methods Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with nine migrant women during their resettlement, and with twenty communicators participating in MILSA education platform. Preliminary results Receiving information in mother tongue by communicators with cultural competence increases access to information. Shared understandings of shame and stigma associated with sexual health constrain the quality of delivery and uptake. Leadership, pedagogic skills, cultural competence, and responsiveness to target group are important qualifications for the communicators. Communicators need an understanding of both cultures, how they interact, and the influence of migration on cultural identity to deliver SRHR information. Trust among participants, and between the communicator and participants is essential for the delivery and uptake of sexual health information. Conclusions Building competence to deliver sexual health information among professionals who encounter migrants at an early stage in the resettlement has the potential to build sexual health literacy and reduce barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health. Key messages Civic orientation is an important arena for reaching migrants with SRHR information. To empower the migrants to take control of their sexual and reproductive wellbeing in the new country, this information must be culturally, linguistically appropriate and delivered pedagogically.

Migrants’ long-term residential trajectories in Sweden: persistent neighbourhood deprivation or spatial assimilation?

Despite time being a key element in the theories on international migrants’ socio-spatial mobility, it has not been sufficiently addressed in empirical research. Most studies focus on discrete transitions between different types of neighbourhoods, potentially missing theoretically important temporal aspects. This article uses sequence analysis to study the residential trajectories of international migrants in Sweden emphasising the timing, order, and duration of residence in neighbourhoods with different poverty levels. It follows individuals of the 2003 arrival cohort during their first 9 years in the country. Results show that 81% of migrants consistently reside in the same type of neighbourhood; 60% consistently live in a deprived area and mere 12% follow a trajectories starting at deprived and ending at middle-income or affluent neighbourhoods. Thus, spatial assimilation is neither the only nor the most frequent trajectory followed by migrants in Sweden. Lastly, there are persistent differences in neighbourhood attainment between immigrant groups, suggesting either place stratification or ethnic preference.

Negotiating co-participation: Embodied word searching sequences in paired L2 speaking tests

This study explores embodied word searching sequences in paired L2 speaking tests in a national test in basic Swedish for adult migrants in Sweden. A particular focus is given to sequences where the speaker invites the interlocutor to participate in the search and to extended word searches where co-participation is negotiated in different ways. Drawing on an embodied interactional analysis of 27 video recorded paired speaking tests, this study shows how embodied semiotic resources are used both to negotiate participation in the word searching sequences and to display an avoidance to participate in the word search even when being invited to do so. Overall, the participants prioritize the progressivity of talk rather than pursuing lexical precision. This study argues that the test takers' awareness of being assessed can have an impact on how they perform the word searches. Finally, the study makes the case that even though word search behavior is similar across languages, it remains important to treat word searching as a contextualized interactional practice.

Acculturation or unequal assimilation? Smoking during pregnancy and duration of residence among migrants in Sweden.

A growing corpus of evidence reveals that smoking patterns of migrant women tend to converge with that of the host population over time (‘acculturation paradox’). In this paper we aim to adopt a health equity perspective by studying the extent to which this pattern reflects a convergence with the group of natives who are more socioeconomically disadvantaged. Using population-based registers, we study 1,194,296 women who gave birth in Sweden between 1991 and 2012. Using logistic regression, we estimated odds ratios to assess the effect of duration of residence on the association between smoking during pregnancy and women's origin (classified according to inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (iHDI) of the country of birth). Sibling information and multilevel models were used to assess the extent to which our results might be affected by the cross-sectional nature of the data. Smoking during pregnancy increases with duration of residence among migrants from all levels of iHDI to such an extent that they tend to converge or increase in relation to the levels of the Swedish population with low education and low income, leaving behind the native population with high education and income. The results are robust to possible selection bias related to the cross-sectional nature of the data. Our findings indicate the need of a health equity perspective and suggest the use of ‘unequal assimilation’ rather than ‘acculturation paradox’ as a more suitable framework to interpret these findings.