The Unwanted: negotiating the refugeehood in Sweden : A qualitative discourse analysis of individual narratives of denied asylum seekers.

Abstract: By using critical discourse analysis this study aims to understand the asylum process in Sweden through the experiences of the denied asylum seekers as they are expressed in their narratives published online. The study also aims to explore how the applicants influence the asylum process and if the applicants perform any resistance. By adopting the power perspective and presenting the denied applicants‟ experiences of the asylum process through the perspective of discipline power, sovereign power and biopower, the study shows that applicants experience positioning which is imposed on them by Swedish Migration Agency. This research supports findings of the previous studies yet it presents the asylum seekers in a contrasting way, namely as acting subjects who resist and negotiate their position during the asylum process. The denied applicants do not just accept the assigned positions, namely the subject who can be denied, be deported and the unwanted subject, rather negotiate them in various ways including attempt to mobilization through the social medias and digital technologies. The study also shows how the family unit is used as a resource in this negotiation both by the applicants and the Migration Agency.