Integrationsfrämjande arbete

– segregationsförstärkande konsekvenser

Abstract

Integration-promoting efforts - Segregation enhancing consequences

Focusing on Malmö, one of Sweden’s major cities, this analysis examines the strategies implemented over recent decades to counteract segregation. It explores the impact of these initiatives on the development or manifestation of segregation. Key questions guiding the analysis include: What is considered an expression of segregation and integration, respectively? Which approaches to counteract segregation have been prioritised during different periods, and how do these approaches compare? Why does segregation persist despite various efforts to combat it?

The analysis draws on a comprehensive report summarising 25 years of Malmö’s work to counteract segregation. The methods that have been used include reviews of political decisions, guidelines, budget documents, etc., and interviews with eleven stakeholders, including politicians, researchers, and civil servants. Grounded in the view that integration and segregation are linked to welfare, the analysis uses the concepts of cohesion and community as its theoretical foundation.

The results indicate a historical tendency to focus on migrants, employment, and sustenance within specific residential areas, resulting in stigmatisation. Recently, policies have taken a repressive turn, neglecting underlying structural factors which ultimately reinforce rather than mitigating segregation and its negative consequences.