Producing Difference in Organizing – Attempts to Change an Ethnic Identity into a Proffesional One

Andreas Diedrich ()
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Andreas Diedrich: Gothenburg Research Institute, Postal: School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg, Box 600, SE 40530 Göteborg, Sweden, http://www.handels.gu.se/gri

No 2008:3, GRI-rapport from University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg Research Institute GRI

Abstract: This paper reports how municipalities, state agencies and other organizations working with the induction of newly-arrived immigrants in Sweden cooperate in establishing a system for assessing the immigrants’ competencies and qualifications (validation). Among the various practices involved in this “management of difference”, one consists in an active casting of immigrants. While such casting is not necessarily problematic, the results of Swedish validation programs have been described by practitioners, policy makers and researchers alike as somewhat disappointing with regard to getting people into employment quicker or integrating them better into society. Some of the shortcomings may be explained by the fact that the efforts to remove inequality involve the categorization of the newly-arrived immigrants as having an “upsetting identity”; they could not be easily identified in relationship to what was considered as the Swedish norm. Instead of finding out what the immigrants could do, the assessment activities concentrated on demonstrating what they will not be able to do in a Swedish context.

Keywords: difference; identity; classification; immigrants; organizing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26 pages
Date: 2008-10-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-mig
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhb:gungri:2008_003

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