Swedish Integration Policy - What’s the problem represented to be?

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to analyze a Swedish Integration Policy Bill (2009/10:60) for refugees and humanitarian immigrants. The aim of the thesis is to investigate how integration process in Sweden is governed through ‘problem’ representations it holds. Research is conducted by using a method introduced by Carol Lee Bacchi (2009) known as ‘What’s the ‘problem’ represented to be?’. It finds answers to four of the six questions mentioned in the method, through the perspective of Foucault’s triangle of rule (i.e. governmentality, sovereign and disciplinary powers) along with the concepts of power and knowledge. State uses the knowledges produced by dichotomies, such as educated/uneducated and motivated/unmotivated immigrant, and categories, such as ‘welfare-dependent’ and ‘economic burden’, to form norms to control the behaviors and thoughts of the immigrants. Norms such as ‘active participation’ and ‘to increase their efforts’ for integration are formed, which is an example of disciplinary power exercised by government to regulate integration.