Elderly Immigrants in Sweden: ‘Otherness’ Under Construction

Torres, Sandra

doi:10.1080/13691830600928730

Cited by 107 publications

(139 citation statements)

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“…e.g. Torres 2006), this is also true for Sweden, as one can see that there are larger groups of foreign-born 11 people approaching retirement age (see e.g. SCB 2017).…”

Section: Demographic Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…There appears to be a wide agreement among researchers that rather little is known about older migrants (see e.g. Torres 2006;Warnes & Williams 2006;Warnes et al 2004). Writing about the Swedish context, Bradby and Torres (2016) suggest that "despite assumptions of homogeneous vulnerability, there are, in fact, no studies that have looked into older immigrants' actual backgrounds in terms of ethnicity, class, and education level and neither has there been enough inquiry into the present situation of this group" (p. 304).…”

Section: Older Migrants In Swedenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…'Immigrantness' has thereby replaced the biologically-based racist ideology of the nineteenth century Europe. (Torres 2006(Torres :1350 What Torres here calls "immigrantness" and what Svanberg and Tydén describe as an "immigrant identity" are both included in the concept of migrancy as understood in this dissertation. However, as was suggested when discussing the use of the term (im)migrant, migrancy in the present dissertation is understood as a broader concept insofar as it is not presumed to be reserved only for those who may be constructed as diametrically opposed to the idea(l) of a native Swede.…”

Section: Constructions Of Both Swedishness and Migrancy In Sweden Seementioning

confidence: 99%

“…(Ronström 2002:136) The underlying idea is a social constructionist one that draws attention to the unequal distribution of power, namely the "ruling elite" as compared to "elderly immigrants". Torres (2006) later reviewed and evaluated existing research on older migrants in Sweden. She found that those concerned with elderly care and policy have constructed the social category of "elderly immigrant" as homogeneous and problematic, approaching those included in the category as presumptive recipients of care who will pose an unusual challenge to the provision of care services.…”

Section: The Construction Of the Category Of "Elderly Immigrants" In mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To add to this, most research on this topic seems to have focused on youth. Secondly, rather than studying older migrants in Sweden in their own right, they mostly seem to have been studied as presumptive recipients of care with special needs, constructing a negatively laden category in the process (see Torres 2006, see Chapter 2).…”

Section: Chapter 1: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Identity, Old(er) Age and Migrancy : A Social Constructionist Len

Machat-From¹

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Identity research in relation to ethnicity and migration has tended to focus on younger people whilst identity research in relation to ageing and old(er) age has not focused on migrants. This inadvertent mutual neglect has led to a lack of identity research that examines the identity categories of old(er) age and migrancy together, a lacuna that this dissertation aims to redress. This dissertation departs from a social constructionist understanding of identity as situationally accomplished in the interplay between how one defines oneself (internally) and how others define one (externally). The questions raised by this perspective and addressed in this dissertation are: When (in what situations) and in relation to whom do old(er) age and migrancy (respectively) seem to become meaningful for identification? How do the identity categories of old(er) age and migrancy seem to be negotiated? The empirical material consists of in-depth interviews with 24 older migrants (13 men, 11 women) aged between 55 and 79 who have been living in Sweden for 18 to 61 years. Interviewees come from 12 different countries that vary in perceived cultural distance from Sweden. The findings suggest that identifications with old(er) age and migrancy seem to be dynamic and flexible rather than necessarily permanently meaningful, thus gaining meaning in specific situations and in relation to particular Others. External definitions furthermore do not always seem to match with internal ones. Regardless of how old(er) age and migrancy are constructed, they seem to be negotiable. This dissertation thus contributes to identity research by studying old(er) age and migrancy together and furthermore sheds light onto how the social constructionist lens allows us to see variability where stability otherwise would be presumed.

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“…e.g. Torres 2006), this is also true for Sweden, as one can see that there are larger groups of foreign-born 11 people approaching retirement age (see e.g. SCB 2017).…”

Section: Demographic Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Older Migrants In Swedenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Constructions Of Both Swedishness and Migrancy In Sweden Seementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Construction Of the Category Of "Elderly Immigrants" In mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Chapter 1: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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