Karin Borevi, Södertörn University

2010-2016

From multi-culturalism to assimilation? Swedish integration policy from a European perspective

Recent decades has seen a rising concern in Europe with perceived problems of integration. Unemployment among immigrants, socio-economic gaps, ethnic fragmentation of cities, increasing unrest in the streets, and perceived illiberal beliefs and cultural practices within immigrant communities have turned into a widespread sense of integration failure all over Europe. In their attempts to work out these issues, states have taken a more active approach in the 'making' of immigrants into citizens, through tools of 'civic' conditioning that test and require competences in the language, history and political values of the recipient society, political loyalty, as well as employment relevant skills, as a condition for admission, permanent residence and/or citizenship.

The aim of this project has been to analyze this civic integration policy trend. The project has had three objectives: (1) to characterize the Swedish position from a comparative European perspective; (2) to explain the Swedish position historically and comparatively and (3) to scrutinize normatively the ongoing integration policy trends.

In the following, results in relation to each of these aims are briefly presented:

(1) Characterization of Swedish immigrant integration policies

In a number of publications it is discussed how the Swedish immigrant integration policies are to be characterized in relation to the larger civic integration policy trend. The conclusion is that Sweden does indeed constitute something of an exception. Opposite to the common trend, the country has introduced neither formal language requirements nor other tests of knowledge as conditions for naturalization. And even though economic incentives have recently been introduced to encourage new arrivals to follow the introduction programmes, participation in the programmes is in Sweden not tied to the individual's chances to achieve residency or citizenship.

One result which may be highlighted is further that the analysis of the Swedish case yields a critical assessment of the notion, repeated in the scholarly debate, that civic integration means a "retreat from multiculturalism". This, I argue, is not necessarily the case. The civic turn in integration policies rather means a shift of paradigm from a rights based integration logic towards a duty-based logic, and it is here that the Swedish case seems to something of an exception. It should also be added that, due to political changes in relation to the 2015 refugee crisis, the current characterization of the Swedish position in integration policies will lead to somewhat different results than what is referred to above (which will be taken into account in a coming paper, based on research carried out in this project (see work in progress).

(2) Explanation to the Swedish exception in immigrant integration policies

Publications from the project have demonstrated the salience of factors such as party political dynamics; previous weakness of right wing populist parties and party coalition strategies in explaining why Sweden deviates from common European immigrant integration policy trends. One contribution of the project is further to show how a non-deterministic perspective of path dependent analysis helps us understanding the Swedish case. The Swedish position in immigrant integration policies can be traced back to the 1975 decision (which, in turn, was the result of a policy process starting already in the early 1960s) when Sweden first formulated a principled approach towards immigrant integration. Foundational of the Swedish policy approach was the conviction that the 'integrative logic' of the welfare state was valid also for immigrants and their families. Inclusion of immigrants in the general welfare state arrangements was seen as crucial, not only to facilitate the individual's integration into mainstream society, but also to avoid undermining the universal character of the welfare state.

(3) Normative analysis of the civic integration trend

In a paper, which is based om research carried out in this project (yet to be publised) the normative defensibility of the civic integration policy trend is discussed with reference to the normative concept and theory of constitutional patriotism. Simply put, constitutional patriotism may be defined as a theory of citizen community and civic attachment within democracies where the basic constitutional principles and democratic values function as the 'civic glue', rather than factors such as ethnicity and culture, as in traditional nationalism (Habermas 1996; Müller 2007a). The idea in this paper is to assess the 'civic turn' in relation to this particular concept since it may be interpreted as a move - on a rhetorical level at least - towards constitutional patriotism. Many policy makers are keen to emphasize values such as democracy, civic commitment, and participation, as opposed to more narrowly construed ethno-cultural imagery, when outlining their vision of greater integration and social cohesion. The conclusion of this article is however that it is difficult to discern any civic integrationist policy attempts which are compatible with the processual understanding of constitutional patriotism.


The two most important publications from the project

In the following, two central publications from this project is briefly summarized.

The theoretical purpose in Borevi (2014) is to assess Christian Joppke's hypothesis that recent trends of integration policy convergence have rendered the national model approach analytically useless. The analysis shows that Sweden deviates, in some important respects, from the European trend by not formulating demands that link integration achievements to immigrants' access to fundamental rights. It is argued that the Swedish case does not support Joppke's hypothesis, but rather indicates that path dependency of national models is a valid explanation to ongoing developments. The article claims the Swedish exception should be understood as an expression of the persistent impact of a policy logic according to which integration requires that all citizens have equal and universal access to certain fundamental rights. The article builds on general comparisons with European policy developments and uses Denmark as a more specific reference point.


In Borevi (2016a) it is discussed how we should understand that Denmark and Sweden - two countries with manifold features in common - have arrived at strikingly divergent policy responses towards immigrant integration? This paper suggests that, despite similar references to welfare state symbols, dominant national identity constructions in the two countries represent distinctly different ideal typical views on how social solidarity is generated and maintained. In Denmark official political discourse and policy making processes indicates the working of a society-centered perspective on national identity, emphasizing social cohesion as a necessary precondition for public institutions to sustain. This idea is arguably reflected in the Danish immigrant policy approach, where the inclusion of newcomers is conditioned on them acquiring a comprehensive set of demands defining a predefined (and 'settled') idea of Danishness. In comparison, the Swedish idea about national identity is more oriented towards a state-centered approach, in the sense that the capacity of the political institutions - notably the welfare state - is typically emphasized as the core promoter of social inclusion and sense of national belonging. In the field of immigrant integration, this idea is mirrored in a widespread conviction that the organization of welfare state institutions, rather than the spirit of the people, constitutes the necessary condition for creating and sustaining national cohesion and integration. The paper gives a historical account of the nation building processes in the two countries and shows that crucial differences in political perceptions along the ideal types mentioned above are to be identified in contemporary political discourses related to the 'civic' turn in immigrant integration policies.

Publications

Borevi, Karin, Kristian Jensen, Per Mouritsen (2016 forthcoming) “The Civic Turn in Immigration and Citizenship Policies in the Nordic Welfare States”, Comparative Migration Studies

Borevi, Karin, Emily Cochran Bech, Per Mouritsen (2016 forthcoming) “Family migration in the Scandinavian welfare states: Comparing Denmark, Norway and Sweden”, Comparative Migration Studies

Borevi, Karin (2016a, forthcoming) “Diversity and Solidarity in Denmark and Sweden” in Keith Banting and Will Kymlicka The Strains of Commitment: The Political Sources of Solidarity in Diverse Societies, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Borevi, Karin (2016b, forthcoming) ”Integration” in Ludvig Beckman and Ulf Mörkenstam (eds.) Politisk teori. Malmö: Liber.

Borevi, Karin (2015a) “Sweden and the Civic Turn in Immigrant Integration Policies”, publishes as part of special feature "Framing Migration: Rhetoric and Reality in Europe." CritCom Reviews and Critical Commentary Online publication of the Council for European Studies (CES) http://councilforeuropeanstudies.org/critcom/

Bengtsson, Bo & Karin Borevi (2015) ”Mångfaldens vägskäl. Integrationspolitikens stigberoende”. Mångfaldens dilemman. Medborgarskap integrationspolitik. Malmö: Gleerups Förlag, pp. 17–40.

Borevi, Karin (2015b) Family migration policies and politics: Understanding the Swedish exception. Journal of Family Issues. 36:11, 1490–1508. DOI: 10.1177/0192513X14558297

Thapar-Björkert, Suruchi & Karin Borevi (2014) “Gender and the ‘integrationist turn’: Comparative perspectives on marriage migration in the UK and Sweden”. Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies, 17(2): 149–165.

Borevi, Karin (2014) Multiculturalism and welfare state integration: Swedish model path dependency, Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 21:6, 708-723, DOI: 10.1080/1070289X.2013.868351

Borevi, Karin (2013a) ”Understanding multiculturalism in Sweden” i Peter Kivisto and Östen Wahlbeck (eds.): Debating Multiculturalism in the Nordic Welfare States. Basingstoke & New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 140–169.

Borevi, Karin (2013b) ”The Political Dynamics of Multiculturalism in Sweden” i Raymond Taras (eds.) Challenging Multiculturalism: European Models of Diversity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, s. 138–160.

Borevi, Karin (2012) ”Sweden: the Flagship of Multiculturalism” i Grete Brochmann och Anniken Hagelund,  Immigration Policy and the Scandinavian Welfare State 1945–2010. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, s. 25–96.

Borevi, Karin (2011) ”From Multiculturalism to Assimilation? Swedish Integration Policy from a European Perspective”, Statsvetenskaplig tidskrift 113(1), s. 47–56.

Work in progress

Borevi, Karin och Bo Bengtsson (forthcoming) Comparative process tracing in immigrant integration policies, unpublished working paper

Borevi, Karin och Per Helldahl (forthcoming) Constitutional Patriotism or Renewed Nationalism? Evaluating the ’Civic Turn’ in European Immigrant Integration Policies, unpublished working paper.