Anders Neergaard

Gender and sexuality matter in politics. The term Anti-genderism identifies a deep societal conflict in the challenge and resistance to the global expansion of women´s and sexual minorities’ rights, and the
democratization of the family. It highlights political and cultural agendas demanding re-patriarchalisation and retraditionalisation of both families, individuals, and societies. The research team has crafted a novel interdisciplinary and comparative program, bringing together a solid conceptual frame on the nexus gender, sexuality and family, through a multi-sited ethnography, towards a systematic exploration of a fundamental paradox: the centrality of gender equality in the Nordic region and the successful establishment of antigenderism coalitions at the core of the Nordic countries. The aim of the research program will be to analyze antigenderism as ideas, collective identities, communities of belonging and political projects in the Nordic region (here defined as Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden) focusing on civil society organizations and networks, mainstream political parties and religious institutions.

The project focuses on the Sweden Democrats (SD) and the role of local and regional gendered place identities in contributing to the regional strength of ethnonationalism, but also to alternative democratic societal projects that mitigate ethnonationalism. It studies place identities both in regions where the SD is strong and weak, with the aim of understanding the role of place identities and the relationship to gender identities and diverse solidarities frames; posing the following research questions:

1. What role do local and regional gendered place identities play in facilitating and constraining ethnonationalist worldviews?

2. Which myths of origin can be discerned from local political, municipal and media documents, and how are they invoked and contested by both ethno-nationalist and alternative democratic solidarity projects?

3. What role does gender, class, ethnicity and age play in the construction and transformation of local and regional place identities?

4. What role does local media play in shaping regional and local identities, constructions of “we” and “them” and solidarity agendas in parliamentary politics?

The REMESO database is a register-based database that contains information about all individuals, schools, dwellings and companies in Sweden.
The REMESO database is based on Statistics Sweden's annual registerdata and consists of five parts:
(1) A population register containing information about all individuals who were registered in Sweden as of 31 December for each year;
(2) Longitudinal Integration Database for Health Insurance and Labor Market Studies (LISA);
(3) A business register with information about all economically active companies and organizations in Sweden , whether they belong to the private or public sector;
(4) A school register with information about all elementary schools and upper secondary schools, including student grades;
(5) A real estate register containing microdata administrative and longitudinal information on all properties, buildings, addresses and apartments in Sweden.

CuRe gathers five research teams from Austria, Croatia, Germany, Serbia and Sweden. Its goal is to understand the recshift in everyday life towards polarization and radicalization, and the successes of right-wing movements and parties in Europe. We start from the premise that cultures of rejection emerge as the result of crises in Europe’s democracies, as well as due to changes in national institutions and civil society. Since rejection is a threat to all forms of social cohesion and peaceful coexistence, the project seeks to study the conditions that have led to the rejection of, among else, immigration, political elites, media and cultural values such as gender equality and sexual liberty.

Specifically, the research focuses on the way economic and technological changes impact employees in logistics and sales, and in which way employees ascribe any particular meaning to these changes.

The researchers assess the situation along the 2015 migration route across Sweden, Germany, Austria, Croatia and Serbia, thoroughly examining work places, digital and socio-spatial environments in interviews and ethnographic fieldwork.

Project web page: http://www.culturesofrejection.net/

The proposed project aims to explore how parenthood is negotiated and constructed by parents with foreign backgrounds in Muslims countries through strategies of respectability when they access welfare institutions such as the family central in Sweden from an intersectional perspective. Studies show that families with foreign backgrounds in general, and those in risk of being racialized as Muslims in specific, pertains to groups that in different ways are marginalized in terms of access to the services in welfare institutions, although there are important variation of experiences within and across these groups. Issues that often are raised concern language barriers and socio-economic factors explaining a status as vulnerable. There are also other factors such as discrimination, stereotyping and stigmatizing discourses against families with a foreign background in welfare institutions. Thus, performing 'migrant respectability' can be a strategy to avoid stigmatization and stereotypes when they access welfare institutions such as the family central in Sweden.

The project explores the fundamental question of who is, and who is not, considered deserving of welfare services, how deservingness is negotiated and with what implications, in a context of increasing diversity driven by migration, welfare restructuring, and austerity. Such negotiations serve to draw boundaries between those migrants who have access to the support and services of the welfare state, or are believed to have access, and those who are excluded, e.g. because they are deemed as not belonging or are seen as responsible for their own neediness. Variation will be made visible and comparable by exploring how solidarities are informed by different constellations of welfare and migration regimes, in both urban areas and rural / small towns with varying degrees of diversity and migrant settlement. Our multi-sited ethnography in Denmark, Sweden, and the UK will focus on six welfare micropublics, local spaces where entitlements to support and services are negotiated. We focus on how deservingness is constituted according to migrants' generational status and according to spatial dimensions of the neighbourhood where migrants settle.

The aim of the project is to explore antiracist ideas, practices and strategies, focusing on women and migrants doing antiracism and everyday practices of conviviality. Methodologically the project is inspired by institutional ethnography, extended case method and ?What?s the problem represented to be? (WPR). Indepth, focus group interviews and participant observation will be carried in two major and two rural municipalities, where 5 different organizations/networks will be studied (human rights, migrant; antiracist, feminists and religious).

Research on trade unions has identified the crises and challenges trade unions face, not only in relation to employers and the state, but also regarding how to keep the trade union and workers together. One particular challenge is how to build solidarity in a context in which the number of migrant workers is increasing and working class support for anti-immigrant extreme right parties is growing.

The research question framing this proposal is how an important organisation for Swedish industrial relations negotiate what seems to be a fundamental contradiction among its members. The aim is to analyse the strategies and actions taken by trade unions in relation to migrant workers, ethnic diversity and members and activists displaying support for extreme right parties.

The theoretical framework is drawn from labour studies and industrial relations research along with migration and ethnic studies, supplemented with gender studies.. Methodologically, the project is an ethnographic study of five blue collar trade unions and Landsorganisationen, employing semi-structured interviews and participant observation, complemented with document analysis.

The project explores research and debates on multiculturalism, social cohesion and liberal values in academic discourse, policy documents and the media. It scrutinises discourses voicing anxiety over "multiculturalism" in societies marked by the erosion of citizenship, urban revolts among disadvantaged migrant youth, an ongoing nationalist-populist alignment and exclusivist policies of migration and "integration".

As one of the largest organizational complexes in Sweden, trade unions both reflect and influence societal development, affecting policies, regulating labor markets and influencing wage-earner identities and solidarities. The last decades have seen substantial changes in the trade union landscape, with the increasing strength of white-collar trade unions vis-à-vis blue-collar unions, changes in the character of the labor market, while the strength of Sweden’s social democracy has been decreasing.
The aim of this study is to explore white masculinities in the forging of the trade union worldviews, policies and strategies relating to three spheres– socio-political, industrial relations and internal organization. The focus is on three trade unions dominated by men with a Swedish background variously affected by globalization: engineers, managers and construction workers.
The project is inspired by three central theoretical concepts: neoliberal globalization, white masculinity and trade union solidarity. Methodologically, it encompasses ethnography: interviews, focus groups, observations and document analysis.

MIGLINK is a Swedish-Mexican-Turkish Research Links consortium specialised on migration and development. MIGLINK aims to
examine the development of an incipient global governance framework for migration with a focus on the role of civil society.

Young people from lower socio-economic strata living in marginalized urban areas have substantially more difficulties in school. This project aims to study if and how participation in civil society organizations may improve this situation. The research questions of the project are: 1) Young people in marginalised urban areas are active in which kinds of civil society organisations? 2) Through which processes does membership in civil society associations affect educational achievements of young people in school? 3) How does the impact of membership vary in terms of the educational outcomes of young people, taking account of issues such as gender, class and ethnic background? 4) To what extent does participation in civil society organisations restrict the freedom and mobility of young people and do such restrictions differ based on gender, class and ethnic background?
The answers will help us to grasp the significance of civil society organizations for young people?s educational achievements, and in continuation their labour market entry, and used in general educational policies, and to improve the situation for young people living in marginalized urban areas.

During the last 20 years their has been an upsurge in research on xenophobic populist parties mirroring their political successes. However, these studies have rarely touched upon the role of women and immigrants within these parties. While women are often invisible in research, located in a marginal role as girl-friends and sisters, migrants support to these parties is often defined as a contradiction in terms and remains un-theorised. The aim of the study is to analyse the double edged relationship between on the one side women and migrants approaching the Swedish xenophic populist party -Sweden Democrats, and on the other side the discourse of the party in respect to women and migrants in their conditions of representatives. It will identify women's and migrant's agency and explore the ways through which these shape, constrain and influence their position in the organisation. Theoretically the project is framed within gender and IMER studies, focusing on the notions of the family and nationhood, and the notions of ethnic belonging and nationhood. Methodologically the study is based on in depth interviews and life-stories with women and migrants representing SD in municipalities.

Studies of Swedish working life shows inequality: women and migrants earn often less in the same jobs. Women and migrants face more obstacles in their careers. The project aims to compare the factors that influence the situation of different groups at two workplaces, one equal, and the second less equal. Methods used are questionnaires, interviews, participant observation in the workplace, and discourse analysis: 1) How are formal qualifications valued for wage setting and promotion at the workplaces? 2) What knowledge is valued as workplace-specific skills at each workplace? 3) What is the effect of possession of social capital, ie network, on wage and career development at the workplaces? 4) Are there differences in opportunities for people of the different groups? 5) Can the measurement of knowledge explained in terms of local discourses and social practices related to the construction of masculinity and femininity, Swedish or non-Swedish? The project contribution is expected to produce extended knowledge of the conditions for capital accumulation, and a broader understanding of how social practices at workplaces may generate equality.

This project aims at investigating shifting migration regimes and how employment and labor differentiates categories of migrants in Sweden. Relations between employers and migrants become increasingly crucial for opportunities and restraints in migrant life situations in systems of managed migration. Employers also become engaged in global economic relations and at the same time negotiate the relations between the nation and the migrant workers.

Studies of migrant labour in the Swedish labour market have generally focused on those having received permanent residence permission as refugees or through family re-unification legislation. This mirrors a situation in which labour migration has been quite restrictive in Sweden. Starting with a new labour migration reform in 2008, this is dramatically changing.

The aim is to study the situation of labour migrants and irregular migrants in the labour market and their understanding of collective action, as (migrant) workers. In addition the project aims at studying the employers, especially the reason for employing these two categories of migrant workers.

Politics of Precarity: Migrant Conditions, Struggles and Experiences

Rationale
The overall purpose of thi conference wasto reflect on knowledge and promote social dialogue on the role of labour unions and other organisations of civil society in the global governance of migration. These issues were discussed against the background of labour market restructuring and emerging international norms pertaining to labour rights as human rights. The conference was organised so as to systematipromote exchange of perspectives between leading scholars and representatives of international organisations, labour unions and activists in other civil society organisations on questions of migration, 'decent work' and global governance. Conference participants investigated jointly and elaborated on policy alternatives for promoting migrants', citizens', and labour rights, as well as conditions for equitable international coordination and a more inclusive role for civil society.
The conference was organised by the Institute for Research on Migration, Ethnicity and Society (REMESO), Linköping University and the International Network for Migration and Development (INMD) in collaboration with the Swedish UNESCO-MOST Committee, Norrköping May 30-June 1st, 2012

European societies have recently turned toward more austere political regimes. Evidence of this can be seen in budget cuts, management of the labor market and restrictions of welfare systems, as well as in new regimes of migration and citizenship. Against the backdrop of such processes, this project investigates how a current politics of austerity affects our cultural memory. This project seeks to extract the correlation between how minorities, migrants and their descendants are treated by present policies and how memories and experiences of migrants, minorities and colonized peoples are treated in historiography and historical pedagogy. The project is unique in the sense that it brings together social scientists analyzing ethnic relations and migration in contemporary Europe and historians studying Europe?s history and cultural memory. It is also potentially path breaking as it crosses borders between languages and academic traditions and initiates a truly inter-European academic discussion on scholarly and intellectual concerns that are deeply shared by most national communities of Europe but usually studied only in the contexts of the various nation states.

Studies of educational stratification show that children from advantaged backgrounds (more economic and cultural capital) attain higher educational merits than others. Recent research in educational stratification incorporates social capital as an additional factor with a significant impact on school achievement. The aim of this project is to examine, in a Swedish context, how access to social capital affects the educational performance of young people from different backgrounds (class, gender, and ethnicity), through the following research questions: Which characteristics of young people affect their access to social capital? Does social capital offset limited access to economic and cultural capital and contribute to better educational outcomes for young people of lower socioeconomic and/or immigrant origin? By what mechanisms does social capital improve individuals educational achievements?

Young people with the same educational qualifications do not reach the same place in the social hierarchy, because educational credentials are never separable from the individuals that hold them. The economic and social return of educational credentials (in terms of salary and the status of the job) depends mainly on the social capital of their holders. How much social capital an individual has access to, depends, among other things, on her socio-economic background, gender and ethnicity.

The aim of this project is to examine: 1) what is the impact of social capital (compared with socio-economic background and education) on labour market outcomes of young people in obtaining their first jobs, and 2), is there any differences between young natives and children of immigrants in regard to their access to and return from social capital when they get their first employment?

In order to achieve the aim of the project, we will examine the labour market outcomes (salary and the work's status) of young people with the same education, three years after completed studies from universities and secondary schools.

The method design of the project combines quantitative and qualitative method (questionnaire - and interview studies).

The collaborative project focused on changing strategies of trade unions and other civil society organisations in Turkey, South Africa and Sweden, facing irregular (or “undocumented”) migration and increasing precarity of labour connected with restructuring and informalisation of economies and labour markets in the context of emerging multilateral frameworks for the global governance of migration.

In Sweden, 60-85% of all jobs are appointed through informal recruitment. The research has to a lesser extent focused on differences in the outcomes of different social networks with regard to ethnicity, gender and class. Questions about how information and recommendations are communicated within the social networks have rarely been studied. The project focuses on the relationship between the applicants and the information mediators perceived scope of action in strategies of network recruitment. What considerations are made when seeking job, and when recommending through social networks? What careers develop through recruiting via social networks and how these are affected by individuals' social background?
The study is theoretically grounded in research emphasizing networks and social capital in recruitment, with an interactionist perspective. Three sub-studies analyze links between qualifications and work: The sample is composed of both low-and high-skilled people in jobs with both low and high qualifications as well as Swedish and foreign-born men and women. Semi-structured interviews and so-called network map are the main methods.

The network aims to create an intellectual forum for scientific discussion and criticism, and research initiatives on issues concerning trade unions, globalization and transnational solidarity.
By bringing together researchers from different disciplines and scattered between Universities, the network aims to develop theoretical understanding of the trade union movement's challenges in a social landscape in change, characterized by regionalization and internationalization of production regimes. Within the framework the nework pays particular attention to cases of union cooperation across national borders. The network brings together research on gender, ethnicity and class linked to transnational trade union solidarity. The empirical focus is on transnational trade union cooperation in near areas (the Nordic /Baltic region), regional (EU / Europe) and global (North-South). In addition to a common theoretical focus, the network is aims to coordinate and develop the research and form the basis for initiation of new research. Finally, the network aims to enable cooperation with other international network of researchers focusing on similar research.

The project aimed to explore the role of various recruitment practices and unequal access to social networks has for the employment of people with foreign and Swedish background respectively. The study was based in two general perspectives on how inequality is created and recreated: theories on social capital and institutional selection / sorting. The project has studied the recruitment practices and career with an empirical focus on HR staff and, the people who have sought and obtained work. Methodologically, the project used both quantitative and qualitative analysis of questionnaires and interviews. The analysis focused on two issues: differences between persons with foreign and Swedish background in the access of so-called social capital and the importance of this social capital on individuals opportunity for employment; institutional mechanisms of selection. What are the effects of employers choice of recruitment channels (formal and informal) for employment? How are applicants ranked and sorted?