Evolution of Integration Initiatives by the Swedish Red Cross: A Comparative Study of Refugee Resettlement in the 1990s and 2015
Abstract
The paper investigates the position of the Swedish Red Cross in two large periods of refugee resettlement in the 90s and 2015. Using a comparative perspective has enabled a thorough and retrospective observation of the differences in the integration initiatives of the organization during the respective time periods. In doing so, this thesis used the findings from interviews and documents to assess the relationship between the Swedish Red Cross and the Swedish authorities. By assessing the Swedish state’s connection with the SRC in terms of integration policies, the research theoretically investigates whether the integration attempts of the Swedish Red Cross have been imbued with agency and solidarity. The findings of the study suggest that the Swedish Red Cross today is more visible in the field, given that the state frequently shares the role of providing social services with local authorities and NGOs. As such, this research contributes to the body of scholarly research on the role of NGOs in the integration of the newly arrived focusing on the case of the Swedish Red Cross.
References
Abiri, E. (2000). The changing praxis of ‘generosity’: Swedish refugee policy during the 1990s. Journal of Refugee Studies, 13(1), 11–28. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/13.1.11
Ager, A., & Strang, A. (2008). Understanding integration: A conceptual framework. Journal of Refugee Studies, 21(2), 166–191. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fen016
Ahrne, G. (1996). Civil society and civil organizations. Organization, 3(1), 109–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/135050849631006
Asztalos Morell, I. (2019). Contestations of the Swedish deportation regime: Civil mobilisation for and with Afghan youth. In M. Feischmidt, L. Pries, & C. Cantat (Eds.), Refugee protection and civil society in Europe (pp. 319–346). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92741-1_12
Björkman, A. (1994). Finmaskigt nät av lokalorganisationer: Röda Korsets stora tillgång. In Svenska Röda Korset, Årsbok 1994. Svenska Röda Korset.
Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (2007). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theory and methods (5th ed.). Allyn & Bacon.
Bucken-Knapp, G., Omanović, V., & Spehar, A. (2020). Institutions and organizations of refugee integration: Bosnian Herzegovinian and Syrian refugees in Sweden. Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 10(2), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.33134/njmr.448
Bucken‐Knapp, G., Fakih, Z., & Spehar, A. (2019). Talking about integration: The voices of Syrian refugees taking part in introduction programmes for integration into Swedish society. International Migration, 57(2), 221–234. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12440
Cohen, J. L., & Arato, A. (1994). Civil society and political theory. MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/2938970
Dahlstedt, M., & Neergaard, A. (2019). Crisis of solidarity? Changing welfare and migration regimes in Sweden. Critical Sociology, 45(1), 121–135. https://doi.org/10.1177/0889620516675204
Diamond, L. J. (1994). Rethinking civil society: Toward democratic consolidation. Journal of Democracy, 5(3), 4–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2019.1665286
Eastmond, M. (2012). Egalitarian ambitions, constructions of difference: The paradoxes of refugee integration in Sweden. In K. F. Olwig, B. R. Larsen, & M. Rytter (Eds.), Migration, family, and the welfare state: Integrating migrants and refugees into Scandinavia (pp. 97–117). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2010.521323
Escobar, K., & Ahl, H. (2024). Civil society initiatives for integrating refugees into Swedish society (Research Report No. 29). Jönköping University, School of Education and Communication.
Göransson, G. (1992). Annual report 1992. Swedish Red Cross.
Habermas, J. (1991). The structural transformation of the public sphere: An inquiry into a category of bourgeois society (T. Burger & F. Lawrence, Trans.; New ed.). MIT Press.
Halkjaer, E., Norström, M., Molin, A., & Björnberg, J. (2016). Swedish Red Cross annual report 2016. Narva; Swedish Red Cross.
Hansen, K. (2018). Egalitarianism under siege? Swedish refugee reception and social trust. In S. Bendixsen, M. Bingslid, & H. Vike (Eds.), Egalitarianism in Scandinavia: Approaches to social inequality and difference (pp. 269–289). Palgrave Macmillan.
Haug, H., Gasser, H.-P., & Institut Henri-Dunant. (1993). Humanity for all: The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Paul Haupt Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020860400077184
Heckmann, F., & Schnapper, D. (Eds.). (2003). The integration of immigrants in European societies: National differences and trends of convergence. Lucius & Lucius.
Hiilamo, H. (2015). Solidarity in a Nordic welfare state: The case of Finland. In A. Laitinen & A. B. Pessi (Eds.), Solidarity: Theory and practice (pp. 234–246). Lexington Books.
Hustedde, R. J., & Ganowicz, J. (2002). The basics: What's essential about the theory for community development practice? Journal of the Community Development Society, 33(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/15575330209490139
Jämte, J., & Pitti, I. (2019). Strategic interplay in times of crisis: Opportunities and challenges for state–civil society interaction during the Swedish “refugee crisis” of 2015–2016. Partecipazione e Conflitto, 12(2), 410–435. https://doi.org/10.1285/i20356609v12i2p410
Jansson, A. / Swedish Red Cross. (2016). Swedish Red Cross activity report 2016. Swedish Red Cross.
Jeppsson Grassman, E., & Svedberg, L. (1996). Voluntary action in Scandinavian social welfare context: The case of Sweden. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 25(4), 415–427. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764096254002
Keane, J. (1998). Civil society: Old images, new visions. Stanford University Press.
Likić-Brborić, B., & Bennich-Björkman, L. (2016). ‘‘Swedish exceptionalism’’ and the integration of refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s: Acceptance and strategies of citizenship. In L. Bennich-Björkman, R. Kostić, & B. Likić-Brborić (Eds.), Citizens at heart? Perspectives on integration of refugees in the EU after the Yugoslav wars of succession (Vol. 56, pp. 87–112). Hugo Valentin Centre, Uppsala University.
Lithander, A., & Sahl, M. (Eds.). (2018). Swedish Red Cross annual report 2018. OTW; Swedish Red Cross.
Lundström, T. (1996). The state and voluntary social work in Sweden. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 7(2), 123–146. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02354108
Lundström, T., & Svedberg, L. (2003). The voluntary sector in a social democratic welfare state: The case of Sweden. Journal of Social Policy, 32(2), 217–238. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279402007006
Müller, K. B. (2006). The civil society–state relationship in contemporary discourse: A complementary account from Giddens' perspective. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 8(2), 311–330. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-856x.2006.00212.x
Najam, A. (2000). The four C’s of third sector–government relations: Cooperation, confrontation, complementarity, and co-optation. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 10(4), 375–396. https://doi.org/10.1002/nml.10406
Olwig, K. F. (2012). Integration: Migrants and refugees between Scandinavian welfare societies and family relations. In K. F. Olwig, B. R. Larsen, & M. Rytter (Eds.), Migration, family and the welfare state: Integrating migrants and refugees in Scandinavia (pp. 1–18). Routledge.
Oxenstierna & Partners. (2017a). Swedish Red Cross activity report 2017. Åtta45; Swedish Red Cross.
Oxenstierna & Partners. (2017b). Swedish Red Cross annual report 2017. Åtta45; Swedish Red Cross.
Povrzanović Frykman, M., & Mäkelä, F. (2019). ‘Only volunteers’? Personal motivations and political ambiguities within the Refugees Welcome to Malmö civil initiative. In M. Feischmidt, L. Pries, & C. Cantat (Eds.), Refugee protection and civil society in Europe (pp. 291–317). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92741-1_11
Rehnberg, G. (1994). Bosniska flyktingar har ju haft ett likadant liv som vi. In Svenska Röda Korset, Årsbok 1994. Svenska Röda Korset.
Svenska Röda Korset. (1991). Årsbok 1991. Svenska Röda Korset.
Westin, C., & Dingu-Kyrklund, E. (2003). Immigration and integration of immigrants and their descendants: The Swedish approach. In F. Heckmann & D. Schnapper (Eds.), The integration of immigrants in European societies: National differences and trends of convergence (pp. 105–134). De Gruyter Oldenbourg. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110507324-006
Wikberg, B. (1989). The Swedish Red Cross Centre for the rehabilitation of tortured refugees. International Review of the Red Cross, 29(268), 38–41. https://doi.org/10.1017/S002086040007409X
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.
