Between Central Control and Local Autonomy: The Changing Role of Swedish Municipalities in the Implementation of Integration Policies

Hudson, Christine; Giritli-Nygren, Katarina; Lidén, Gustav; Sandberg, Linda

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-50979-8_2

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Since the end of the 1990s, Sweden has moved away from a policy of multiculturalism to one of civic integration (Borevi 2012;Hudson et al 2021;Lidén and Nyhlén 2015). Public debate has increasingly come to focus on the obligations of refugees and migrants to 'integrate themselves' into society, living by Swedish values and norms, mastering the language and adjusting to the Swedish way of life (Schmauch 2011;Dahlstedt and Hertzberg 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, integration is frequently seen as being hindered by immigrants' failure to acquire these skills and knowledge (Arora-Jonsson 2017). Municipalities play an important role in the reception and integration of refugees (Lidén and Nyhlén 2015;Hudson et al 2021) not just by providing services such as housing, health care, and schooling for children, but also (themselves or co-ordinated with other actors) through activities such as civic orientation, language training and work training/experience. They are required by law (Förordning 2010(Förordning : 1138 to ensure that all newly arrived immigrants receive a civic orientation that gives them a basic understanding of Swedish society and facilitates their integration into society and the labour market.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Integrating the Immigrant the Swedish Way? Understandings of Citizenship and Integration in Swedish Local Civic Integration Projects

Hudson

Sandberg

Sundström

2022

Journal of Intercultural Studies

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In Sweden, integration is a pressing issue particularly following the large influx of immigrants in 2015. Swedish municipalities play an important role in civic integration, with responsibility for newly arrived immigrants receiving a basic understanding of Swedish society, their rights and obligations. We analyse data from 204 applications granted funding 2016/2017 for projects improving the integration of refugees into society by co-operation between municipalities and other actors. Using thematic analysis, we identify two broad themes. One concerning the 'what' of integrationthe Swedish values, norms and behaviours that immigrants are expected to learn in order to become 'good' Swedish citizens, and the other concerning the means or the 'how' of integration. However, although these projects are wellmeaning, they may have normalizing and disciplining effects whereby the immigrant is constructed as subordinate, as the Other. Swedish gender-equality is heavily emphasized and we see how, in relation to this, the immigrant is constructed as unmodern, bound by tradition and unequal. Particularly immigrant women are produced as passive objects rather than active subjects, in need of special women's activities and lacking as parents in comparison with the Swedish ideal.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating the Immigrant the Swedish Way? Understandings of Citizenship and Integration in Swedish Local Civic Integration Projects

Hudson

Sandberg

Sundström

2022

Journal of Intercultural Studies

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“…Besides significant restrictions regarding the possibility to obtain a permanent residence status (Jutvik, 2020a), municipal autonomy was circumvented since refugees after their admission to Sweden are dispersed through a specific distribution model and no longer according to negotiated quotas potentially reflecting local ambitions. This is regulated through the 2016 Settlement Act with clear dispersal aims and an ambition to reach a more equal reception of refugees among local governments (Hudson et al, 2021). In this regard, Sweden is a particularly interesting case to study as municipalities have limited influence over the local number of admitted refugees but far-reaching autonomy to develop other related welfare services, such as the structure of housing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resilience in Local Housing Policy? Liberal or Restrictive Policy Stances Among Swedish Municipalities Following the Great Migration in the Summer of 2015

Holmqvist

Jutvik²,

Lidén³

2022

Front. Polit. Sci.

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The dramatic event that the great migration in the summer of 2015 entailed changed the migration policies of various countries. Substantial amendments were hastily made in a policy field in which already tense state-local relations struggled to manage coordination, responsibilities, and funding. Sweden, recognized as a final host country of the massive flows of refugees and asylum-seekers, was no exception. In Sweden, autonomy in terms of local refugee reception was circumvented in 2016. Municipalities' remaining discretion is above all concentrated to one of the most crucial spheres of refugee reception: the outline of local housing policies. We argue that housing may be perceived as a tool of resilience that local governments may use to maintain far-reaching influence over the settlement of migrants with a refugee background by selecting restrictive or generous policy options. In this paper, we conduct a theoretically grounded analysis of local housing policy for refugees among Swedish municipalities. To capture the intrinsic dynamic, we propose a generic typology applying the dimension of either a liberal or a restrictive housing policy and relate it to theoretical notions of refugee policy as characterized by either a rights-based or a more restrictive approach. Our findings show that local governments in Sweden pursue a wide array of policy stances that appear to be correlated with factors originating from prior experiences of refugee reception, conditions in the labor and housing markets, and political circumstances. Based on this, we argue that local housing policy has offered municipalities a tool to exert a form of intentional, or unintentional, migration control despite national efforts to impose a more just system of refugee reception.

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Introducing Local Immigration and Integration Policy – Approaches and Themes

Lidén

Nyhlén

2021

Local Migration Policy

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Between Central Control and Local Autonomy: The Changing Role of Swedish Municipalities in the Implementation of Integration Policies

Cited by 5 publications

References 20 publications

Integrating the Immigrant the Swedish Way? Understandings of Citizenship and Integration in Swedish Local Civic Integration Projects

Integrating the Immigrant the Swedish Way? Understandings of Citizenship and Integration in Swedish Local Civic Integration Projects

Resilience in Local Housing Policy? Liberal or Restrictive Policy Stances Among Swedish Municipalities Following the Great Migration in the Summer of 2015

Introducing Local Immigration and Integration Policy – Approaches and Themes

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