| 1. |
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| 2. |
- Brandell, Inga, et al.
(author)
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Introduction
- 2015
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In: Borders and the Changing Boundaries of Knowledge. - Istanbul : Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul. - 9789197881333
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)
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| 3. |
- Carlson, Marie, 1950
(author)
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“’Are you going to write as we think or as you think?’ On Troubled Subject Positions among Immigrant Women in a Swedish Context”.
- 2015
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In: Inga Brandell, Marie Carlson & Önver Cetrez (Eds) Borders and Changing the Boundaries of Knowledge. Transactions Vol 22, Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, Stockholm.. - Stockholm/Istanbul : Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, Stockholm. - 9789197881333 ; , s. 109-127
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- "Are you going to write as we think or as you think?" – On Troubled Positions, Borders and Boundaries among Immigrant Women in a Swedish Context Abstract The aim of this contribution is to discuss representational power and images/concepts Turkish women attending Swedish language courses for immigrants (SFI) experience in accounts about them as migrants in Sweden. Examples from the past but also from the present will be used – from a still ongoing debate on troubled positions, borders and boundaries among/about immigrant women in a Swedish context. Empirical data (mainly interviews and policy documents) consist of revisiting an earlier study from 2002, but also data from later projects will be used. In addition to this other research has been reviewed relevant for the critical intersectional discussion concerning ethnicity/migration, gender and class; research related to e.g. cultural-, migration-, ethnicity- and gender studies. A sociocultural perspective and a postcolonial point of departure will be used. Three themes will be discussed; one is about social interaction and negotiating of ethnicity from an interview illustrating how the interviewee as well as the interviewer are caught in prevalent discourses and try to handle the straightjacket of labelling. Next theme is about gender, gender equality, “Swedishness” and nation, where SFI can be seen as an arena for educating the participants about gender equality. The last theme focuses on the institutional level, the welfare state and the power of definitions. This section also discusses how the category “immigrant” including “the immigrant woman” are constituted and negotiated in relation to the labour market. Structural conditions as well as agency are not always considered or problematized in these discussions. Taken together, the article can be seen as a critical reflection on the production of knowledge that researchers as well as various actors are involved in. This is both an ethical and methodological issue that will also be developed in the concluding discussion.
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| 4. |
- Carlson, Marie, 1950, et al.
(author)
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Civic Orientation for Migrants in a Swedish Context – Exploring values and governing from an intersectional perspective
- 2018
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In: ECER/EERA conference 4-7 September, 2018 - Free University Bolzano, Italy.
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- General description (research questions, theoretical framework) Different social models for integration and citizenship are increasingly discussed in Europe. Previously recognized conventions of citizenship, about who the citizen is, may or should be challenged (Joppke 2007). Discussions in both research and political organizations can be seen as a consequence of the decline in variations of “multicultural” models that were fundamental to integration policy in Sweden, as well as in several other European states (ibid.; Sonninen 1999). In Sweden, the multicultural integration policy in 1975 was formulated through the three key concepts: equality, freedom of choice and collaboration (prop. 1975:26). During the 1980s, cultural and ethnic group rights were reduced and adaptation to international policy took place. A further shift occurred in the early 1990s with ever higher individual demands on the migrant from the states across Europe. Among other things, there was increasing demand for participation in education such as language courses and courses on social orientation. After the investigation “Sweden for newly arrived migrants – Values, welfare state, everyday life” (SOU 2010:16) a new regulation was added: “Civic orientation for some newly arrived immigrants” (SFS 2010:1138). Through this law, homogenization and national standardization of education efforts have been developed. This applies to both implementation and teaching materials; e.g. the textbook “About Sweden” (first edition 2010, City of Gothenburg, latest edition 2017), which we have analysed. Each municipality is required to organize and offer newly arrived immigrants civic orientation; courses described by organizers to “give keys to Swedish society”. Government control includes that the county administrative boards annually monitor the activities and return the results to the government. The orientation should preferably take place in the mother tongue in dialogue and reflection with support of “civic communicators”, who will have some educational skills (SFS 2010:1138). This education initiative raises a number of issues that we discuss in our contribution from an intersectional perspective, but with a particular focus on gender. The specific Swedish approach to gender equality has become an important marker, a national self-image and a certain “success story”, where binary classifications often function as demarcations between “Swedes” and “the Other” (Carlson & Kanci 2017; Forbes et al. 2011). Theoretically, our contribution rests on a narrative and discursive approach (Andrews 2007; Fairclough 2003). The standardization and homogenization developed for civic orientation in the Swedish context can also be seen as a powerful state governance in line with Foucault's perspective on governmentality (Foucault 2000), which is useful for the analysis of policy documents and teaching materials. Also Bacchi’s social constructionist analytical framework (2008) is used for reviewing political documents, where Bacchi argues that politics to the same extent construct social problems as it reveals or solves them. Our interest is directed to questions about how the participants are understood as subjects, what characteristics, abilities and positions they are expected to adapt to and occupy. We have explored how the image of the migrant/citizen is (re)constructed, interpreted and negotiated within the discourses of the education. Our interest has also been to investigate how narratives about Sweden, “Swedishness”, “Swedish values”, citizenship, everyday life and welfare state emerge in civic orientation for newly arrived immigrants (cf. Griswold 2010; Yuval-Davis 2011). Research questions • What social and cultural values/norms regarding Swedish society are articulated in policy documents and teaching materials? How are these related to gender and ethnicity from an intersectional perspective? • What narratives about the newly arrived migrants are conveyed in the civic orientation’s documents and teaching materials? Which individuals/groups are included, respectively, excluded? • What dominant stories are visible? Are there also “counter stories” expressed? • What experiences and reflections do migrants highlight in their own stories of having participated in the education? Methods/methodology The empirical data consists of policy and steering documents, teaching materials, mainly the textbook “About Sweden” in different editions used in civic orientation, and interviews with some migrants who previously participated in the education. An intersectional perspective has been used in the narrative and discursive approach to examine how different (re)constructions are linked and interact with, for example, gender, ethnicity, class and religion/view of life (Christensen & Qvotrup Jensen 2012; Yuval-Davis 2011). Methodically we have searched for organizing recurring concepts that hold together and substantiate dominant speech as well as visual representation in teaching materials. Narratives related to discursive themes turned out to be a useful comparative tool – especially as regards nationalism and self-image related to the intersection of gender and ethnicity (cf. Carlson & Kanci 2017). A narrative is about a relational, situational and contextual story and is of existential value to human beings – both individually and collectively (Yuval-Davis 2011). This is something that we also will emphasize in the analysis of the still ongoing interviews with migrants who previously participated in the education. Expected outcomes/results The preliminary analysis shows how gendered, culturalized and ethnified discourses are discerned throughout the material and how the (re)constructions of the immigrant and the “Swede” are played out together with fostering attitudes. In particular, an ethnocentric and ideological gender equality discourse is linked to “Swedish” norms and values – both in policy documents and teaching materials like in the textbooks “Om Sverige” (“About Sweden”). Perceptions of the traditional and culturally bound immigrant woman are strongly emphasised in dominant discourses and is thus an object that always is about to be changed, which the course participants sometimes show resistance to. A perspective of fostering (cf. Carlson & Kanci 2017; Eriksson 2010) and ”Othering” (Osman 1999; Rosén & Bagga-Gupta 2013), as well as a strongly dominant gender equality discourse is disernable in the material, where gender positions occupy an idealized “Swedish” framing. Both women and men who have migrated to Sweden are almost automatically placed as more traditional and less equal than men and women born in Sweden (Knocke 2011; Magnusson et al. 2008; Yazdanpanah 2013). There seems to be reason to still discuss the three key concepts formulated in the 70's in the bill as regards the multicultural integration policy (prop. 1975:26): equality, freedom of choice, collaboration. The case of civic orientation for migrants in a Swedish context can be seen as both disciplinary and mobilizing (cf. Abdulla 2017; Eriksson 2010) and analysis of material and experiences from participants are important in order to fill a gap in research on the “social problem of integration”.
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| 5. |
- Carlson, Marie, 1950, et al.
(author)
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Immigrant women’s experiences of Employment based (EBV) and Intimate partner (IPV) violence (IWEV): On theory and practice in an Icelandic context
- 2019
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In: In Conference Program: Gender and Justice – Theory and Practice across Contexts Atlantic Initiative – Center for Security and Justice Research, October 28–31, 2019, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina..
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In the wake of the 2018 #metoo revelations from immigrant women in Iceland, understanding the depth and prevalence of physical, racial, and psychological violence towards this vulnerable population is critical. Violence and discrimination against women through physical and verbal abuse in the workplace, intimate partner violence and sexual violence are major public health problems and direct violations of women's human rights. This project will give a more nuanced analysis regarding the experiences of these vulnerable women – both their experiences and the provisions available to them. The aim of the project is to explore the prevalence of work-place harassment and violence (EBV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) among immigrant women. While these two aspects of violence against women are significantly different, the stories shared indicate that both are commonplace in Iceland. Data has so far been collected through an online survey in several languages, anonymous narratives. This contribution will present a preliminary analysis of the narratives; some themes in the women's stories and how they describe service providers’ understanding of being immigrant women victims of violence. Also a critical discourse analysis of mass media and legal proceedings is ongoing in the project – the initial data from the discourse and legal analysis, will be presented as well. A legal analysis of how the laws relate to immigrants in the context of perceptions of the Nordic identity and how the immigrant status is impacted by the law and live in a liminal status due to immigration laws. Interviews with immigrant women and key stakeholders who provide services for women will take place later on in the project. As EBV and IPV are unstudied aspects of the immigrant experience in Iceland, it is imperative to describe and analyze hidden factors that reproduce and maintain values that legitimize use of power and control.
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| 6. |
- Carlson, Marie, 1950
(author)
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”Invandrarkvinna”, ”svensk” och ”jämställd”. Om kategoriell komplexitet och (o)synliggörande i utbildning, politik och arbete.
- 2017
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In: Tidskrift för Genusvetenskap. - 1654-5443. ; 38:3, s. 53-76
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article examines categorical complexity in terms of “immigrant woman”, ”Swedishness” and “gender equality” in relation to education, politics and work. The specific Swedish approach to gender equality has become an important marker, a national self-image and a certain “success story”, where binary classifications function as demarcations between “Swedes” and “the Other”. This article discusses distinctions, positionings and categorisations, which are repeatedly expressed in relation to education and work, not least in terms of the language course “Swedish for immigrants” (SFI) and its social orientation. The empirical data consists of policy and steering documents, textbooks, interviews and debates in various contexts such as in media and in Parliament. The main theoretical framework is critical discourse analysis. A deconstruction of ideas and identifying discourses related to the category “immigrant woman” is conducted together with a focus on the concept of “immigrant” – a category that tends to be unisexual. The analysis shows how gendered, culturalized and ethnified discourses are discerned throughout the history of SFI, from the1960s to the present, and how the constructions of the immigrant and the Swede are played out together with fostering attitudes. In particular, an ethnocentric and ideological gender equality discourse is linked to Swedish norms. Perceptions of the traditional and culturally bound immigrant woman are strongly emphasised in dominant discourses and an object that always is about to be changed, which the course participants sometimes show resistance to. The immigrant woman is also invisible in relation to work; she does not fit the constructed ”immigrant worker”, which consists of men, even though the majority of immigrant women are also working.
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| 7. |
- Carlson, Marie, 1950, et al.
(author)
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Multilingual Education in Sweden and beyond - A discussion on policy and practice with examples from an ethnographic study
- 2018
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In: JustEd International Research Conference Promoting Justice through Education Helsinki 22-23 May 2018.
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In contemporary Sweden and since the nineties, beside Swedish as the main language, about 200 languages are spoken, most of these migrant languages. There are also five official minority languages. This contribution will provide a short overview of the new multilingual Sweden and present some definitions from the linguistic landscape. Likewise, some examples from the current language policy will be presented as well as some general results from the educational context. Despite good intentions, in practice various “gaps” occur. Some theoretical reflections of this discrepancy will be discussed; among other things: “linguicism”, deficit ideologies and policy as a process of interpretation. Several methods – e.g. discourse analysis, interviews, policy analysis, ethnographic studies – can be used to study these discrepancies. The linguistic landscape in the Swedish context has been even more visible and challenged after the 2015 migration wave. In this contribution, also some empirical examples from a research project, “Mapping of the Newcomers' Reception and Educational Situation and their transition in the School system in Sweden” will be presented and discussed. The project, an ethnographic study, focusing newly arrived migrant students’ learning in secondary school in eight different schools and about 15 classes. A specific focus is on models of teaching Swedish as a second language. Five researchers are involved and the empirical data contains of observations and interviews with teachers, language support tutors, headmasters and administrative directors at the municipality level. The theoretical framework is grounded in an ecological system theory and philosophies of culturally responsive teaching. The analysis from the project shows various models of teaching Swedish as a second language and diverse models of inclusion for newly arrived students in ordinary classes. Some models use direct inclusion or indirect inclusion in ordinary classes. Other models are more flexible with various forms of language support. The schools are very differently organized with multifaceted practices of interpretation of language policies and teaching. The various organizational models are highly dependent of the interpretations of language policies by the leadership in the local municipality as well as at the local school. This in turn means that newly arrived students will meet different possibilities in being successful in learning the new language in school. Furthermore, the research area of multilingualism is often very absent in the educational practice, which is also related to what kind of teacher education the teachers once attended. Has for example multilingualism as a perspective been present in their teacher education? All together the research project and our general presentation underlines the need for further education for teachers in multilingualism in the new multilingual Sweden – and this goes also for all subjects as all teachers have to deal with language education.
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| 8. |
- Carlson, Marie, 1950, et al.
(author)
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Neoliberalising adult education.
- 2019
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In: In Dahlstedt, Magnus & Andreas Fejes (eds.) Neoliberalism and Market Forces in Education. Lessons from Sweden.. - Oxon & NY : Routledge. - 9781138600881 ; , s. 123-137
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- By drawing on the example of how the largest study association in Sweden, the Workers’ Educational Association (ABF), successfully competed for and won a large share of adult education in Gothenburg in the early 2000s, this chapter illustrates how values previously central to ABF were reshaped. Traditionally, ABF connected to Swedish popular education traditions of ‘bildung’ and the free, broad development of knowledge searching among its participants. By entering the competition for winning bids within adult education, ABF had to reorganise in order to better adapt to the market conditions. It, therefore, created a shareholding company that would be responsible for the adult education they won through procurement in Gothenburg. This area of ABF’s activities thus had to work under the same conditions, with the same logic, as any other business, ideologically shifting the focus from a view of a broader ‘bildung’ to a narrower economic focus on employability. The chapter is based on a policy ethnography in courses for immigrants, where the researchers participated also in teaching practice. Theoretically, a narrative approach is used and especially the teachers' situation is discussed; their reflections on increased bureaucracy, to perform and demonstrate “measurable” results and difficulties in sticking to previous values and knowledge views.
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| 9. |
- Carlson, Marie, 1950, et al.
(author)
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Om spänningar i en marknadsorienterad SFI-utbildning.
- 2018
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In: Dahlstedt, M. & Fejes, A. (red.) Skolan, marknaden och framtiden.. - Lund : Studentlitteratur. - 9789144119960 ; , s. 93-111
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Kapitlet fokuserar på lärarprofessionen inom yrkesinriktad SFI (svenska för invandrare) hos ABF Vuxenutbildning, en upphandlad utbildning som drivs som ett bolag separerad från den i övrigt särskilt finansierade folkbildningen. Värdeförskjutningar har ägt rum generellt inom vuxenutbildningen som genomgått omfattande organisationsförändring – detta gäller också för ABF. Utbildningsanordnaren har att gestalta en utbildning som starkt präglas av ett marknadstänkande och ”arbetslinjen”, vilket får en rad konsekvenser för både kursdeltagare och lärare. Kapitlet grundar sig på en policyetnografi, där forskarna deltagit också i undervisningspraktiken. Teoretiskt används en narrativ ansats och särskilt lärarnas situation diskuteras; deras reflektioner kring ökad byråkratisering, att prestera och visa upp ”mätbara” resultat och svårigheter att hålla fast vid tidigare värdegrund och kunskapssyn. Generellt präglas kurserna av ett uttalat arbetsmarknadsperspektiv som dominerar såväl läromedel/pedagogiska texter som undervisningspraktik. Rådande marknadslogik har medfört att tidigare välfärdstänkande med dess public service-värderingar och jämlikhetsideal har ersatts av nyliberalismens fokusering på ”effektivitet”, ”konkurrens”, ”flexibilitet” och ”entreprenörskap”/”den självstyrande individen”.
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| 10. |
- Carlson, Marie, 1950, et al.
(author)
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Tensions in Policy Processes of Syllabi in Social Sciences in Sweden and Turkey – Troubling educational cultures in a global world
- 2015
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In: ECER 2015 Education and Transition - Contributions from Educational Research, 7-11 September, 2015, Budapest.
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This contribution is based on empirical material from the project Future citizens in pedagogical texts and education policies. Examples from Lebanon, Sweden and Turkey, with focus on how the ‘citizen’ is constructed in relation to place, nation, language, religion, ethnicity and gender in policy documents for schools and pedagogical texts and how the relationship between national and global perspectives are treated. Textbooks and policy documents for social sciences for secondary school have been analyzed and various actors interviewed involved in policy processes that form the basis for various syllabuses. In this contribution we focus mainly on the Swedish sub-study, however contrasted also to the analytical results from the Turkish sub-study. Of interest has been to compare how different stakeholders look at the policy processes and how certain tensions can be discerned in terms of different positions and perspectives. Struggles over what counts as valuable knowledge has been analyzed at different levels – both in text and speech. These issues also draw attention to the tensions between different decision-making levels (international, national, individual schools, local conditions, specific classroom contexts) and different actors (politicians, professionals, citizens in society) and their importance for curriculum. Of interest is also how various perspectives interact with ethnicity, gender, and religion, and how this generate processes of inclusion and exclusion. Theoretically/methodologically the project is linked to critical discourse analysis for studying how the ‘citizen’ and different subject positions are constructed in both text and practice. Various tensions expressed been investigated with particular focus on how perspectives are related to the global, national and local. For the relationship between the EU and Sweden and Turkey, we have partly used an analytical point of view, where the EU is understood as three different arenas that can be more or less integrated. We look primarily at the arena, which consists of the countries 'own' national policies at home. In the analysis of tensions related to various actors’ positions and perspectives we also draw on research on professions. In the Swedish context focus has been on policy processes at work with new/current curriculum, Curriculum for the compulsory school, preschool class and the recreation centre, 2011 (Lgr11). The syllabi in the subjects of religion and geography for grades 7-9 and the curriculum process that preceded these syllabi have been of special interest. Officials at the Swedish National Agency for Education who were responsible for writing the syllabi Lgr11 have been interviewed and expert groups set up for writing the syllabi as well. Likewise we have met experts working on behalf of the Ministry of Education to review the National Agency for Education final proposal. The material also contains the final draft of syllabi submitted by the Agency for Education to the Ministry of Education, and the final syllabi. In Turkey we interviewed actors such as educational bureaucrats, scholars working on education from different disciplines, civil society activists and teachers. Expected results - A notable tension in the Swedish context is that at the same time as the school continues to be attributed to a multicultural mission, there is a marked strengthening of the Nordic perspective and even a nationalistic. For religious education e.g. as regards a more global perspective, in the 2011 Curriculum the expert group by the Swedish National Agency for Education didn’t want Christianity to be specifically mentioned, but instead use the concept of world religions. However, the Ministry of Education, decided that Christianity should be singled out. - Tensions are distinguished also in terms of the stakeholders’ positions and constructions in relation to what is articulated as e.g. valuable knowledge. These tensions seem to be related to various perspectives as regards professional positions - to a ‘didactic’ perspective versus an ‘ideological’ perspective. - Different views on policy processes related to the two national socio-cultural contexts have also been identified – in the Swedish case more consensus-stressed is expressed compared to the Turkish. Resistance and acceptance is expressed differently. - As regards the relationship with the EU in both cases, the citizen is defined with references to national contexts. Although our two countries may seem rather different it is not possible to talk about post-national citizenship; a broader vision and a global and/or a European vision, with respect to citizenship is not available. It is also not possible to talk about de-nationalization of citizenship – either as regards Sweden or Turkey – nationhood and citizenship is still very much the same.
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