Välkomna till Sverige? : Svenska migrationspolitiska diskurser under 1900-talets andra hälft

Sammanfattning: The main aim of this dissertation is to study the relationship between migration policy and nation states by using a discourse analytical approach. This study has shown that migration policy and nation state discourses are closely intertwined, at least in the actual period investigated – the 1960s to the mid 1990s. Nation state thinking, comprising both civic and ethnic homogenising tendencies, appears to be woven into the migration policy discourses. This manifests itself most clearly through the numerous statements that indicate that migration has to be limited if Sweden is to live up to its different welfare- and integration policy ambitions. Ethnicity is actualised in these discourses through the singling out of “new ethnic groups” as being difficult to integrate in Sweden. The study also shows that certain migrant groups are discriminated against in migration policy practices. Although the ethnic groups that are singled out and discriminated against vary, it is interesting to note that, in some way or other, most of them can be associated with Islam.The formulation of the discourses is related to the agents that participate in a defined migration policy field. The study shows that the state has considerable potential to regulate the other agents’ position and influence within the field. The study also shows that the non-state agents with influence in the field often proffer opinions that closely match those of the state agents.Despite an obvious continuity in the Swedish migration policy discourses, certain changes can also be discerned during the particular time period studied. One very important change is the state’s way of categorising migrants. Up until the beginning of the 1970s, migration is mainly categorised as an influx of foreign labour, and migrants are described both as an asset and as a burden to Sweden. From the 1970s and onwards, there is an increasing tendency to categorise migrants as refugees; something that is almost always described as a problem – socially, economically and ethnically – for Sweden.