Integrationens arenor : En studie av flyktingmottagande, arbete, boende, förenings- och församlingsliv i tre kommuner : [a study of refugee policy, employment, housing, and social and community affiliations in three Swedish municipalities]

Abstract: This dissertation is a comparative study of three Swedish localities: Sollentuna, Katrineholm, and Lycksele. The overall aim of the study is to explore variations in local outcomes regarding the integration of immigrants in these three Swedish municipalities.One important assumption is that processes of integration into the host community depend on basic social interaction at the local level; interaction which isshaped through different institutional and socio-spatial contexts. Such particular local contexts are conceptualized here as arenas in which everyday life is constituted. More specifically, the processes of integration of immigrants are conceived of as products of the existing local conditions for natural and frequent encounters between immigrants and Swedish born people in the three arenas: the place of work, the area of residence, and social and community affiliations.The three localities are described in terms of the particular characteristics of their respective labour markets, their economic structures, the structures of their housing markets, and the structures of their institutional and social networks. The processes of integration are analysed with reference to the participation of immigrants in these local markets, institutional structures and social networks.Finally the local internal relations between the three arenas are discussed in order to unveil possible ways in which interaction between different arenas can generate unique local conditions for the integration of refugees into the local community.