Immigrants as resources in times of depopulation? Local work and perspectives on immigrant’s establishment in rural areas

• The reception and integration of immigrants has become a prioritized issue in Sweden, being one of the European countries receiving most asylum applications since 2014. For rural communities immigration can be a possible solution in reversing problems of population decline. At the same time the urbanisation rate of international migrants is very high while their employment rate in rural areas remains comparatively low (Hedlund et al, 2017). Increasing international immigration creates challenges for rural communities in organizing reception and activities to match immigrants to education and the local labour market. These challenges are not unique to rural areas, but the specificity of the rural have often been overseen in immigration establishment studies. Thus, this paper focuses not on the migrants and what they 'bring', but on the receiving municipalities and the local labour market which they are to settle in to. The aim of the paper is to explore a) how the rural municipalities are organizing and working in promoting immigrants establishment, through for example workplace learning and education, and b) actors on the local labour markets perceptions regarding possibilities and obstacles for immigrants establishment. The paper focuses on the understandings and practices in the municipalities work regarding immigrants and the labour markets in line with theories of policy work. Masseys (1994) theories of space, place and gender is also used since what is seen as possibilities and obstacles for immigrants' establishment and the activities created has to be seen in a cultural, material and historical context. The study is part of a larger project on integration and education of adult migrants in rural areas in three municipalities in the rural north of Sweden. Municipal policy documents are analyzed and interviews conducted with municipal actors organizing activities such as education and workplace learning. Possible and actual employers such as CEOs and company owners in the private sector and head teachers and unit managers in the public sector are also interviewed. Preliminary results indicate that all three municipalities are keen on keeping the immigrants and highlights possibilities of a 'demographic refill' for their communities. Through a regional actor different projects were launched targeting both immigrants and plausible employers.   Interviews with actors on the local labour market indicates different attitudes towards employing immigrant personnel. Differences in perception also seems to reflect classical differences in the gendered labour market. The work of municipalities and perceptions and strategies on local labour market regarding immigrants establishments touches upon several issues of relevance for Nordic educational research such as formation of educational activities, workplace learning, education in rural areas as well as aspects of inclusion, power relationships, and formal and informal qualification demands affecting immigrants’ possibilities for learning and space of agency in the process of establishment. 

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)