Problematising refugee migrants in the Swedish forestry sector

Eva Wikström and Anna Sténs
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Eva Wikström: Department of Social Work, Umeå University, Sweden
Anna Sténs: Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious studies, Umeå University, Sweden

Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 2019, vol. 25, issue 1, 63-80

Abstract: In this article, ideas behind current Swedish efforts to integrate refugees in ‘green’ industries are analysed. We ask why the employment of refugees in forestry, a sector historically and globally notorious for its abuse of migrant workers, has come to be regarded as a solution in official Swedish migration policy. A discourse analytical approach is applied, analysing what the arguments are for introducing refugees to forestry work and how the forest, as a space, is depicted and used discursively as a means for refugee integration. The sources for the analyses consist of articles appearing in the printed press from 2015 to 2017. Three main problem discourses are identified: the ‘labour shortage’ discourse, the ‘refugees in need of work’ discourse and the ‘forest as a health-promoting learning environment’ discourse. The hazardous aspects of forestry work or the fact that refugees might be overqualified for the jobs offered are generally left unproblematised.

Keywords: Migrant workers; refugees; integration; forestry work; Sweden; ‘refugee crisis’; ‘What-is-the-problem-represented-to-be?’ (WPR) approach; media analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:treure:v:25:y:2019:i:1:p:63-80

DOI: 10.1177/1024258919827133

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