Responsibilization in contemporary Swedish crisis management: expanding 'bare life' biopolitics through exceptionalism and neoliberal governmentality
In: Critical policy studies, Band 14, Heft 1, S. 86-105
ISSN: 1946-018X
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In: Critical policy studies, Band 14, Heft 1, S. 86-105
ISSN: 1946-018X
In: Risk, hazards & crisis in public policy, Band 13, Heft 2, S. 118-143
ISSN: 1944-4079
AbstractMany countries in the "Global North" that have enjoyed relative food security for a number of decades now face challenges that may lead to disturbances in food supplies. Global markets and global flows are not as self‐evident as they were a few years ago and new modes of governance for managing national food security during crisis are required. Recent events such as the COVID‐19 pandemic have further showed that global production systems and communications are fragile to a range of different disturbances. This article examines the possibility of managing national food security through collaborative arrangements between public authorities and private food companies through a case study of the Swedish approach to food security. The analysis is based on a theoretical framework that highlights the importance of motivation, leadership, shared understanding, and trust as four dimensions that evaluate collaborative governance in precrisis situations. We conclude that although a broader understnding of the importance of food security has emerged, collaborative governance arrangements run the risk of creating only an illusion of readiness, due to unclear mandates and clear leadership not able to advance trust, legal structures, or concrete agreements for ensuring national food security.
Two long-term trends characterized the response to the influx of asylum seekers in rural Sweden in 2015. First, a result of current policy-making on integration policy, is the focus increasingly focussed on individual immigrants, especially in relation to education, employment and housing provided the framework for the response. Second, the shift of rural governance from state control to collaborative arrangements with nonstate actors, enabled the unprecedented involvement of civil society in the reception and integration of asylum-seekers in rural areas. The consequences of the confluence of these two approaches are most visible in rural areas. In this paper, we explore the new landscape of collaborative governance in relation to migrant reception and integration and ask: what kind of space for maneuver might be available for migrants in the context of collaborative governance of integration in rural Europe? We argue that the new context of rural governance in tandem with integration policies focusing on individual migrants/ families rather than also considering group and ethnic belongings can leave newcomers at the mercy of an informal and unknown institutional terrain of collaborative governance, one that can exacerbate their vulnerability and lead to a situation of "double isolation"- from co-ethnic networks as well as from local society.
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In: Policy sciences: integrating knowledge and practice to advance human dignity, Band 53, Heft 1, S. 181-203
ISSN: 1573-0891
AbstractThe use of collaborations and partnerships that engage a variety of actors from both the public and private spheres has drawn attention during the last decade as a promising strategy for combatting trafficking and improving assistance to victims of trafficking. This article investigates the Swedish Civil Society Platform against Human Trafficking as an example of successful collaboration between civil society actors. The aim is to explore how the platform as a distinct organizational form is capable of dealing productively with some of the challenges facing internal and external collaboration. We utilize interviews with key actors and a study of policy documents as we argue that the modularity and flexibility of the platform organizational form are key factors in its success. While it is a robust type of organization that may be regarded as a trustworthy partner, it also permits its member organizations to continue functioning as independent entities.
The use of collaborations and partnerships that engage a variety of actors from both the public and private spheres has drawn attention during the last decade as a promising strategy for combatting trafficking and improving assistance to victims of trafficking. This article investigates the Swedish Civil Society Platform against Human Trafficking as an example of successful collaboration between civil society actors. The aim is to explore how the platform as a distinct organizational form is capable of dealing productively with some of the challenges facing internal and external collaboration. We utilize interviews with key actors and a study of policy documents as we argue that the modularity and flexibility of the platform organizational form are key factors in its success. While it is a robust type of organization that may be regarded as a trustworthy partner, it also permits its member organizations to continue functioning as independent entities.
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In: Regulation & governance, Band 16, Heft 3, S. 818-835
ISSN: 1748-5991
AbstractSweden is well known as the first country in the world to adopt client criminalization in an effort to control and eventually eliminate prostitution. Less attention has been paid to the emergence of extensive collaborative governance arrangements that serve as complements to the legal framework. The aim of this article is to provide new knowledge as it investigates the multifaceted ways in which governance arrangements have developed in Sweden, employing collaborative governance theories and the Regulatory–Intermediaries–Target model for this purpose. The strategies of responsibilization directed toward target groups that have been utilized to implement policies to control prostitution and trafficking are also explored. The article analyzes not only the rationale behind the adoption of collaborative governance in Sweden, but also the complex governance practices that have emerged in this regard, in which a range of actors are involved in policymaking and application as well as regulation. We conclude that the previous understanding of the Swedish model needs to be revised, and that although collaborative governance has made a fruitful contribution to the field in question, it also introduces new types of problems, particularly a significant increase in informality and decisionmaking outside the legal framework, primarily by civil society actors.
In: Studies in conflict and terrorism, S. 1-23
ISSN: 1521-0731
In: Routledge studies in religion
This report explores reception policies, practices and humanitarian responses to the current refugee crisis in Sweden, focusing on the aftermath of 2015 unprecedented refugee migration, and also providing a brief historical perspective. Sweden has been known as one of the most generous countries in terms of welcoming refugees and providing an easy path to citizenship but its migration and reception policy has taken a 'restrictive turn' in recent years. The refugee crisis in 2015 has not only opened the window for 'a major policy shift' and 'historical' legislative changes to the Swedish migration and reception policy but also impacted the social, economic and political sphere instigating anti-immigrant sentiments.
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This report explores reception policies, practices and humanitarian responses to the current refugee crisis in Sweden, focusing on the aftermath of 2015 unprecedented refugee migration, and also providing a brief historical perspective. Sweden has been known as one of the most generous countries in terms of welcoming refugees and providing an easy path to citizenship but its migration and reception policy has taken a 'restrictive turn' in recent years. The refugee crisis in 2015 has not only opened the window for 'a major policy shift' and 'historical' legislative changes to the Swedish migration and reception policy but also impacted the social, economic and political sphere instigating anti-immigrant sentiments. To significantly reduce the numbers of asylum seekers, Sweden has taken a series of temporary measures including changes in the Reception of Asylum Seekers Act (LMA) and a new Temporary Law (2016) reducing its asylum standards to the minimum standards of EU law. Under this temporary law, everyone who applies for and is given asylum receives a temporary residence permit, at the same time making family reunification extremely difficult. Although the numbers of asylum seekers decreased remarkably in the last three years, the government had not lifted the restrictive measures thus leading to asylum seekers experiencing difficult reception conditions. Current Swedish reception conditions can be best described with the word 'uncertainty' due to the lengthy reception period. It can be strongly argued that during the 2015 refugee influx the country received more refugees than it could have absorbed and managed which ultimately posed profound challenges at policy, administrative and implementation level. When it comes to reception practice, the approach of the Swedish government is more one of centralised dictating to the regional and municipal level, where the state is the main actor. The Swedish reception system, after the mass migration of refugees, encountered major problems providing accommodation, healthcare, services and allowances and early access to education and the labour market. In many dimensions of reception these limitations continue to exist.
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