Gymnasielagen "It is nice that it came, but it is a shit law": Experiences and Perspectives of People Affected by One of Sweden's Temporary Migration Laws

Abstract: In 2017 the Upper Secondary School Act [Hereafter gymnasielag/en] was adopted in Sweden and provided temporary residence permits and a chance of permanent residency to ‘unaccompanied refugee minors’ who previously had been denied asylum. This study includes voices of four young people who have managed to fulfil this journey from temporary permits to permanent. Moreover, three people who through various projects and organisations worked closely with youth included by the law, have been part of knowledge production. These voices serve as the base for this intersectional and feminist research by centring their situated knowledge, agency, experiences, and perspectives to understand how gymnasielagen has affected everyday life, work, and school. Additionally, possibilities and limitations within these contexts and which circumstances and conditions influence these will be illustrated. To grasp these voices, an activity-based focus group and individual interviews have been conducted. The findings demonstrate that experiences and perspectives of gymnasielagen are connected to concepts such as ‘liminal legality’, ‘deservability’, ‘continuum of deportation’, ‘bordering’, ‘governmentality’ and ‘legal violence’. Furthermore, the situated knowledges showcase how several limitations and opportunities exist within various contexts, such as everyday life, work, and school, which are likewise influenced by structural aspects connected to politics, neoliberalism and postcolonialism.