Lived Experiences of Changing Integration Policies: <i>Immigrant Narratives of Institutional Support and Labour Market Inclusion/Exclusion in Sweden</i>

Abstract

This study aims to map, locate and make visible the everyday experiences of newly arrived immigrants in government-sponsored integration activities and to trace how these experiences are linked to changes in policy. The study pays particular attention to the dynamic nature of integration and draws links between personal, organisational and policy domains while analysing shifting integration policies from the standpoint of immigrants. Swedish integration policy has undergone vast changes during recent years as the government implements one of the largest changes in Swedish history, beginning in 2010. With this came an emphasis on employment and workfare over welfare. Consequently, the rhetoric of integration in Sweden also changed from what in municipalities was called an introduction to a sense of establishment. By examining the subjective views of immigrants, we discuss the lived experiences of individuals who are subjected to and employed in different occupations due to various integration regimes.

Living in a foreign country: the meaning of place of origin and gender for risk perceptions, experiences, and behaviors

“…The implication of this statement is that, when the municipality was in charge of the integration policy, the reception was better organized from the beginning, but it was also experienced as creating better preconditions to be able to provide for yourself (Br€ annstr€ om et al 2018). The material also reveals another trajectory that is not uncommon for migrants who decide to start their own businesses.…”

‘ARE WE GOING TO STAY REFUGEES?’ Hyper-precarious Processes in and Beyond the Danish Integration Programme

“…In Denmark, the work-first paradigm has resulted in several major welfare reforms, such as the Municipal Reform in 2007 (Kommunalreformen) and the Social Security Reform in 2014 (Kontanthjaelpsreformen), stressing active labour market policies in a context of global competition, producing new demarcation lines between citizens' rights to social welfare and their obligation to work (Pedersen 2011;van der Haar 2015). Accordingly, because of a lower degree of labour market participation, refugees are specifically targeted, a situation similar to other Nordic countries (NordForsk 2017;Brännström et al 2018;Fernandes 2015). 1 Thus, the ideal of 'self-reliance through employment' articulated in the Danish Integration Act corresponds with overall changes in other welfare states, including the gradual transfer of social service provision from the public welfare system to private firms and civil society organisations (Gilbert 2002;Garrow & Hasenfeld 2014;Maroufi 2017).…”

“…As previously examined by migration scholars, the Nordic welfare states have for decades been present in the daily lives of refugees, considering 'integration' a state project (Olwig 2011;Larsen 2011;Padovan-Özdemir & Moldenhawer 2017;Brännström et al 2018). Although the Nordic welfare states differ in terms of immigration control and specific policies of citizenship, the idea of active labour market participation as the pathway to 'integration' is widely shared among the Nordic countries (Breidahl 2017;Fangen & Paasche 2012).…”

Knocking on the Doors of Integration: Swedish Integration Policy and the Production of a National Space

“…Labor market establishment has always been more or less central in Swedish integration policy but was reinforced in 2010, when an Bactivation reform^was introduced. In line with the overall European trend, the activation reform had as the main purpose to facilitate labor market establishment and meant transference of power from the municipalities to the state (Brännström et al 2018;Qvist 2016). Most recently, on a European level, mainstreaming strategy for integration policy has emerged, with a return to a sort of universalism where specific measures for immigrants are replaced with universal ones.…”

“…Simplified templates and representations of immigrants also simplify ideas on integration, and preconditions the relationship between officials and the immigrated people they meet (cf. Brännström et al 2018). Examples of how the image of the immigrant is formed are shown in the following narratives:…”