Andrea Spehar
Biographic Data
| ID | 305896 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Andrea Spehar |
| GIVEN NAMES | Andrea |
| FAMILY NAME | Spehar |
| SIGNATURE | SPEHAR A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Gothenburg |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2770-0459 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 128 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Multilevel governance and local housing innovations for refugees: Implementation of three municipal pilot initiatives in France, Spain, and Sweden
International audience
Labour Migration at the Crossroads: Politicisation and Segmented Governance in Croatia
This article examines how labour migration is governed and politicised in Croatia, a post‐socialist EU member state undergoing a rapid transition from emigration to immigration. Drawing on policy analysis, party manifestos, and media sources, it traces Croatia's shift toward liberalised recruitment of third‐country nationals amidst labour shortages and demographic decline. At the same time, migration has become increasingly politicised, particula…
State-sanctioned uncertainty: Governing the labour market participation of Syrian refugees in Adana, Irbid and Gothenburg
A Shift in Perspective: Refugee Voices and Agency in the Labor Market Entering and Workplace Integration Process
Labor market entering and workplace integration of marginalized migrant groups remain a pressing challenge for policymakers and one of the central topics in the research. Yet, as researchers with migrant backgrounds, we have become increasingly frustrated over dominant discourses, both in the research and in the public sphere that rarely center the voices of those who are the subjects of integration on an equal footing. In this essay, we call for…
Gender equality in the name of the state: State feminism or femonationalism in civic orientation for newly arrived migrants in Sweden
This article contributes to ongoing discussions in the social sciences about how to interpret the incorporation of gender equality into integration policies – is it a form of state feminism or femonationalism? Drawing upon intersectionality, we analyse how gender equality is presented, discussed and negotiated in relation to ethnicity and nationality in Sweden. Methodologically, we employ a bifocal lens that combines (1) a quantitative investigat…
Locating Sweden in Time and Space: National Chronotopes in Civic Orientation for Adult Migrants
The aim of this article is to use courses in civic orientation for newly arrived adult migrants in Sweden as the empirical entry point from which to investigate whether, and if so, how, civic values are tied to the Swedish nation through specific discourses and narratives. With the help of a framework that brings together theorisations of the discursive construction of the nation with the notions of the chronotope and ‘social narratives’, the art…
Constructing the “Good Citizen”: Discourses of Social Inclusion in Swedish Civic Orientation
Sweden has long been described as a beacon of multiculturalism and generous access to citizenship, with integration policies that seek to offer free and equal access to the welfare state. In this article, we use the policy of Civic Orientation for Newly Arrived Migrants as a case with which to understand how migrants’ inclusion is discursively articulated and constructed by the different constituencies involved in interpreting the policy and orga…
Newly arrived migrants meet street-level bureaucrats in Jordan, Sweden, and Turkey: Client perceptions of satisfaction–dissatisfaction and response strategies
The article examines how newly arrived Syrian refugees experience and navigate their encounters with street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) in three urban settings: Adana, Turkey; Gothenburg, Sweden; and Irbid, Jordan. The encounters took place in the context of local government institutions responsible for assisting refugees upon their arrival in the host society. The broader question examined is how refugees respond when experiencing dissatisfaction w…
Navigating through depoliticisation: International stakeholders and refugee reception in Jordan and Turkey
The reception of Syrian refugees has dominated negotiations between neighbouring host states, such as Jordan and Turkey, and donors in the Global North. Despite the growing literature on external funding, how international stakeholders navigate the domestic context is understudied. This article employs the lens of depoliticisation and analyses tools employed by international stakeholders manoeuvring domestic contexts in centralised states. We arg…
Citizenship as status, habitus and acts: Language requirements and civic orientation in Sweden
This article employs the notions of citizenship as status, habitus and acts as a framework through which to capture how sovereign power, disciplinary power and biopower intersect in the context of Sweden’s current management of migration. Through an analysis of policy and media debates, the article first illustrates how citizenship as status and sovereign power in Sweden have undergone a shift from actively endorsing multilingualism and cultural …
Institutions and Organizations of Refugee Integration: Bosnian-Herzegovinian and Syrian Refugees in Sweden
Navigating Institutions for Integration: Perceived Institutional Barriers of Access to the Labour Market among Refugee Women in Sweden
Sweden may in many respects be regarded as one of the most gender-equal countries in the world today. However, when looking at the situation of immigrant women a more unsettling picture emerges. Employment rates illustrate large gaps between native and immigrant women, as well as significant gender gaps between immigrant men and women. When investigating plausible explanations for underrepresentation of immigrant women in the labour market, schol…
The pursuit of political will: Decision makers’ incentives and gender policy implementation in the Western Balkans
In the Western Balkans, just as in newly democratized countries in other regions, failures in gender policy implementation are often attributed to lack of “political will.” There is however a surprising lack of specificity concerning what is meant by it and how to measure its influence on the observed implementation gaps. To help to begin filling this research gap this article examines the extent to which Western Balkans countries might be failin…
Talking about Integration: The Voices of Syrian Refugees Taking Part in Introduction Programmes for Integration into Swedish Society
The significant increase in the number of refugees entering the European Union and the low employment rates among them remain pressing issues across Europe. While previous research has mainly focused on refugee integration prospects from the policymakers’ point of view, we shift the analytical focus to how refugees perceive the introduction programme experience, examining the case of Syrian refugees to Sweden. Drawing upon semi‐structured intervi…
Passing the Buck: The case of failing multilevel governance and vulnerable EU migrants in Sweden
Sweden represents an intriguing paradox regarding EU migrant integration. Its welfare state institutions are highly developed; its integration policies have a solid record. Still, a substantial proportion of EU migrants are facing poor working conditions, unemployment and homelessness. This article highlights the ongoing difficulties, both for EU migrants to Sweden, as well as for a broad range of Swedish public actors seeking to devise governanc…
Gender equality for whom? A critical frame analysis of the 2007 Swedish domestic services tax reform
This article considers the motivations behind a 2007 reform in Sweden to implement a tax deduction on domestic services for households, and how the reform could be passed despite extensive political opposition to it. Critical framing analysis is used to argue that at least a partial explanation for the policy reform is to be found in the inherent limitations of the gender equality policy as hitherto pursued in the country, and in the way these li…
Political parties and migration policy puzzles: The European scene
No nordic model: Understanding differences in the labour migration policy preferences of mainstream Finnish and Swedish political parties
Swimming against the tide: Why Sweden supports increased labour mobility within and from outside the EU
While the free movement of labour in the EU is generally depicted as a positive feature of the single market, it was also controversial in the debate on EU enlargement. Actors opposing enlargement argued that large waves of migrants from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) would ‘swamp’ Western labour markets, leading to so-called social tourism and increasing xenophobia. Contrary to the developments in other countries, Sweden was one of the only th…
Women's Movements as Agents of Change: The Politics of Policymaking and the Reform of Domestic Violence Laws in Croatia and Slovenia, 1991–2004
This article examines women's movements as agents of change in postcommunist Croatia and Slovenia: whether, and in what ways, they may have succeeded in politicizing and institutionalizing the issue of domestic violence in the two countries. Theoretically, this article aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion of the effectiveness of different forms of women's policy agency. Using a policy process analysis, the study demonstrates the key role …
The missing factor: Why Social Democracy Can Lead to Restrictive Immigration Policy
It is puzzling that social democratic parties are rarely the main focus of attention in the migration policy making literature, despite their crucial role in most European party systems and their frequent tenure in government. In this article, we seek to address this shortcoming by examining key immigration policies advocated by the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) over the past 40 years. This article shows that the SAP believes there are di…
This Far, but No Further: Benefits and Limitations of EU Gender Equality Policy Making in the Western Balkans
The European Union (EU) is one of the world’s most important policy promoters for gender equality. This article examines the benefits and limitations of EU gender equality policy making in two Western Balkan countries, Croatia and FYR Macedonia. Besides analyzing specific gender policy developments that can be attributed to the EU, particular focus is put on the women’s movement activists’ perceptions of the impact that accession may have on wome…
The missing factor: Why Social Democracy Can Lead to Restrictive Immigration Policy
It is puzzling that social democratic parties are rarely the main focus of attention in the migration policy making literature, despite their crucial role in most European party systems and their frequent tenure in government. In this article, we seek to address this shortcoming by examining key immigration policies advocated by the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) over the past 40 years. This article shows that the SAP believes there are di…
Talking about Integration: The Voices of Syrian Refugees Taking Part in Introduction Programmes for Integration into Swedish Society
The significant increase in the number of refugees entering the European Union and the low employment rates among them remain pressing issues across Europe. While previous research has mainly focused on refugee integration prospects from the policymakers’ point of view, we shift the analytical focus to how refugees perceive the introduction programme experience, examining the case of Syrian refugees to Sweden. Drawing upon semi‐structured intervi…
Citizenship as status, habitus and acts: Language requirements and civic orientation in Sweden
This article employs the notions of citizenship as status, habitus and acts as a framework through which to capture how sovereign power, disciplinary power and biopower intersect in the context of Sweden’s current management of migration. Through an analysis of policy and media debates, the article first illustrates how citizenship as status and sovereign power in Sweden have undergone a shift from actively endorsing multilingualism and cultural …
Navigating Institutions for Integration: Perceived Institutional Barriers of Access to the Labour Market among Refugee Women in Sweden
Sweden may in many respects be regarded as one of the most gender-equal countries in the world today. However, when looking at the situation of immigrant women a more unsettling picture emerges. Employment rates illustrate large gaps between native and immigrant women, as well as significant gender gaps between immigrant men and women. When investigating plausible explanations for underrepresentation of immigrant women in the labour market, schol…
Swimming against the tide: Why Sweden supports increased labour mobility within and from outside the EU
While the free movement of labour in the EU is generally depicted as a positive feature of the single market, it was also controversial in the debate on EU enlargement. Actors opposing enlargement argued that large waves of migrants from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) would ‘swamp’ Western labour markets, leading to so-called social tourism and increasing xenophobia. Contrary to the developments in other countries, Sweden was one of the only th…
Gender equality in the name of the state: State feminism or femonationalism in civic orientation for newly arrived migrants in Sweden
This article contributes to ongoing discussions in the social sciences about how to interpret the incorporation of gender equality into integration policies – is it a form of state feminism or femonationalism? Drawing upon intersectionality, we analyse how gender equality is presented, discussed and negotiated in relation to ethnicity and nationality in Sweden. Methodologically, we employ a bifocal lens that combines (1) a quantitative investigat…
This Far, but No Further: Benefits and Limitations of EU Gender Equality Policy Making in the Western Balkans
The European Union (EU) is one of the world’s most important policy promoters for gender equality. This article examines the benefits and limitations of EU gender equality policy making in two Western Balkan countries, Croatia and FYR Macedonia. Besides analyzing specific gender policy developments that can be attributed to the EU, particular focus is put on the women’s movement activists’ perceptions of the impact that accession may have on wome…
Newly arrived migrants meet street-level bureaucrats in Jordan, Sweden, and Turkey: Client perceptions of satisfaction–dissatisfaction and response strategies
The article examines how newly arrived Syrian refugees experience and navigate their encounters with street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) in three urban settings: Adana, Turkey; Gothenburg, Sweden; and Irbid, Jordan. The encounters took place in the context of local government institutions responsible for assisting refugees upon their arrival in the host society. The broader question examined is how refugees respond when experiencing dissatisfaction w…
Passing the Buck: The case of failing multilevel governance and vulnerable EU migrants in Sweden
Sweden represents an intriguing paradox regarding EU migrant integration. Its welfare state institutions are highly developed; its integration policies have a solid record. Still, a substantial proportion of EU migrants are facing poor working conditions, unemployment and homelessness. This article highlights the ongoing difficulties, both for EU migrants to Sweden, as well as for a broad range of Swedish public actors seeking to devise governanc…
The pursuit of political will: Decision makers’ incentives and gender policy implementation in the Western Balkans
In the Western Balkans, just as in newly democratized countries in other regions, failures in gender policy implementation are often attributed to lack of “political will.” There is however a surprising lack of specificity concerning what is meant by it and how to measure its influence on the observed implementation gaps. To help to begin filling this research gap this article examines the extent to which Western Balkans countries might be failin…
Constructing the “Good Citizen”: Discourses of Social Inclusion in Swedish Civic Orientation
Sweden has long been described as a beacon of multiculturalism and generous access to citizenship, with integration policies that seek to offer free and equal access to the welfare state. In this article, we use the policy of Civic Orientation for Newly Arrived Migrants as a case with which to understand how migrants’ inclusion is discursively articulated and constructed by the different constituencies involved in interpreting the policy and orga…
Navigating through depoliticisation: International stakeholders and refugee reception in Jordan and Turkey
The reception of Syrian refugees has dominated negotiations between neighbouring host states, such as Jordan and Turkey, and donors in the Global North. Despite the growing literature on external funding, how international stakeholders navigate the domestic context is understudied. This article employs the lens of depoliticisation and analyses tools employed by international stakeholders manoeuvring domestic contexts in centralised states. We arg…
Political parties and migration policy puzzles: The European scene
No nordic model: Understanding differences in the labour migration policy preferences of mainstream Finnish and Swedish political parties
Women's Movements as Agents of Change: The Politics of Policymaking and the Reform of Domestic Violence Laws in Croatia and Slovenia, 1991–2004
This article examines women's movements as agents of change in postcommunist Croatia and Slovenia: whether, and in what ways, they may have succeeded in politicizing and institutionalizing the issue of domestic violence in the two countries. Theoretically, this article aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion of the effectiveness of different forms of women's policy agency. Using a policy process analysis, the study demonstrates the key role …
State-sanctioned uncertainty: Governing the labour market participation of Syrian refugees in Adana, Irbid and Gothenburg
A Shift in Perspective: Refugee Voices and Agency in the Labor Market Entering and Workplace Integration Process
Labor market entering and workplace integration of marginalized migrant groups remain a pressing challenge for policymakers and one of the central topics in the research. Yet, as researchers with migrant backgrounds, we have become increasingly frustrated over dominant discourses, both in the research and in the public sphere that rarely center the voices of those who are the subjects of integration on an equal footing. In this essay, we call for…
This Far, but No Further: Benefits and Limitations of EU Gender Equality Policy Making in the Western Balkans
The European Union (EU) is one of the world’s most important policy promoters for gender equality. This article examines the benefits and limitations of EU gender equality policy making in two Western Balkan countries, Croatia and FYR Macedonia. Besides analyzing specific gender policy developments that can be attributed to the EU, particular focus is put on the women’s movement activists’ perceptions of the impact that accession may have on wome…
Women's Movements as Agents of Change: The Politics of Policymaking and the Reform of Domestic Violence Laws in Croatia and Slovenia, 1991–2004
This article examines women's movements as agents of change in postcommunist Croatia and Slovenia: whether, and in what ways, they may have succeeded in politicizing and institutionalizing the issue of domestic violence in the two countries. Theoretically, this article aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion of the effectiveness of different forms of women's policy agency. Using a policy process analysis, the study demonstrates the key role …
The missing factor: Why Social Democracy Can Lead to Restrictive Immigration Policy
It is puzzling that social democratic parties are rarely the main focus of attention in the migration policy making literature, despite their crucial role in most European party systems and their frequent tenure in government. In this article, we seek to address this shortcoming by examining key immigration policies advocated by the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) over the past 40 years. This article shows that the SAP believes there are di…
Swimming against the tide: Why Sweden supports increased labour mobility within and from outside the EU
While the free movement of labour in the EU is generally depicted as a positive feature of the single market, it was also controversial in the debate on EU enlargement. Actors opposing enlargement argued that large waves of migrants from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) would ‘swamp’ Western labour markets, leading to so-called social tourism and increasing xenophobia. Contrary to the developments in other countries, Sweden was one of the only th…
Political parties and migration policy puzzles: The European scene
No nordic model: Understanding differences in the labour migration policy preferences of mainstream Finnish and Swedish political parties
Gender equality for whom? A critical frame analysis of the 2007 Swedish domestic services tax reform
This article considers the motivations behind a 2007 reform in Sweden to implement a tax deduction on domestic services for households, and how the reform could be passed despite extensive political opposition to it. Critical framing analysis is used to argue that at least a partial explanation for the policy reform is to be found in the inherent limitations of the gender equality policy as hitherto pursued in the country, and in the way these li…
Passing the Buck: The case of failing multilevel governance and vulnerable EU migrants in Sweden
Sweden represents an intriguing paradox regarding EU migrant integration. Its welfare state institutions are highly developed; its integration policies have a solid record. Still, a substantial proportion of EU migrants are facing poor working conditions, unemployment and homelessness. This article highlights the ongoing difficulties, both for EU migrants to Sweden, as well as for a broad range of Swedish public actors seeking to devise governanc…
The pursuit of political will: Decision makers’ incentives and gender policy implementation in the Western Balkans
In the Western Balkans, just as in newly democratized countries in other regions, failures in gender policy implementation are often attributed to lack of “political will.” There is however a surprising lack of specificity concerning what is meant by it and how to measure its influence on the observed implementation gaps. To help to begin filling this research gap this article examines the extent to which Western Balkans countries might be failin…
Talking about Integration: The Voices of Syrian Refugees Taking Part in Introduction Programmes for Integration into Swedish Society
The significant increase in the number of refugees entering the European Union and the low employment rates among them remain pressing issues across Europe. While previous research has mainly focused on refugee integration prospects from the policymakers’ point of view, we shift the analytical focus to how refugees perceive the introduction programme experience, examining the case of Syrian refugees to Sweden. Drawing upon semi‐structured intervi…
Institutions and Organizations of Refugee Integration: Bosnian-Herzegovinian and Syrian Refugees in Sweden
Navigating Institutions for Integration: Perceived Institutional Barriers of Access to the Labour Market among Refugee Women in Sweden
Sweden may in many respects be regarded as one of the most gender-equal countries in the world today. However, when looking at the situation of immigrant women a more unsettling picture emerges. Employment rates illustrate large gaps between native and immigrant women, as well as significant gender gaps between immigrant men and women. When investigating plausible explanations for underrepresentation of immigrant women in the labour market, schol…
Citizenship as status, habitus and acts: Language requirements and civic orientation in Sweden
This article employs the notions of citizenship as status, habitus and acts as a framework through which to capture how sovereign power, disciplinary power and biopower intersect in the context of Sweden’s current management of migration. Through an analysis of policy and media debates, the article first illustrates how citizenship as status and sovereign power in Sweden have undergone a shift from actively endorsing multilingualism and cultural …
Locating Sweden in Time and Space: National Chronotopes in Civic Orientation for Adult Migrants
The aim of this article is to use courses in civic orientation for newly arrived adult migrants in Sweden as the empirical entry point from which to investigate whether, and if so, how, civic values are tied to the Swedish nation through specific discourses and narratives. With the help of a framework that brings together theorisations of the discursive construction of the nation with the notions of the chronotope and ‘social narratives’, the art…
Constructing the “Good Citizen”: Discourses of Social Inclusion in Swedish Civic Orientation
Sweden has long been described as a beacon of multiculturalism and generous access to citizenship, with integration policies that seek to offer free and equal access to the welfare state. In this article, we use the policy of Civic Orientation for Newly Arrived Migrants as a case with which to understand how migrants’ inclusion is discursively articulated and constructed by the different constituencies involved in interpreting the policy and orga…
Newly arrived migrants meet street-level bureaucrats in Jordan, Sweden, and Turkey: Client perceptions of satisfaction–dissatisfaction and response strategies
The article examines how newly arrived Syrian refugees experience and navigate their encounters with street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) in three urban settings: Adana, Turkey; Gothenburg, Sweden; and Irbid, Jordan. The encounters took place in the context of local government institutions responsible for assisting refugees upon their arrival in the host society. The broader question examined is how refugees respond when experiencing dissatisfaction w…
Navigating through depoliticisation: International stakeholders and refugee reception in Jordan and Turkey
The reception of Syrian refugees has dominated negotiations between neighbouring host states, such as Jordan and Turkey, and donors in the Global North. Despite the growing literature on external funding, how international stakeholders navigate the domestic context is understudied. This article employs the lens of depoliticisation and analyses tools employed by international stakeholders manoeuvring domestic contexts in centralised states. We arg…
Gender equality in the name of the state: State feminism or femonationalism in civic orientation for newly arrived migrants in Sweden
This article contributes to ongoing discussions in the social sciences about how to interpret the incorporation of gender equality into integration policies – is it a form of state feminism or femonationalism? Drawing upon intersectionality, we analyse how gender equality is presented, discussed and negotiated in relation to ethnicity and nationality in Sweden. Methodologically, we employ a bifocal lens that combines (1) a quantitative investigat…
State-sanctioned uncertainty: Governing the labour market participation of Syrian refugees in Adana, Irbid and Gothenburg
A Shift in Perspective: Refugee Voices and Agency in the Labor Market Entering and Workplace Integration Process
Labor market entering and workplace integration of marginalized migrant groups remain a pressing challenge for policymakers and one of the central topics in the research. Yet, as researchers with migrant backgrounds, we have become increasingly frustrated over dominant discourses, both in the research and in the public sphere that rarely center the voices of those who are the subjects of integration on an equal footing. In this essay, we call for…
Multilevel governance and local housing innovations for refugees: Implementation of three municipal pilot initiatives in France, Spain, and Sweden
International audience
Labour Migration at the Crossroads: Politicisation and Segmented Governance in Croatia
This article examines how labour migration is governed and politicised in Croatia, a post‐socialist EU member state undergoing a rapid transition from emigration to immigration. Drawing on policy analysis, party manifestos, and media sources, it traces Croatia's shift toward liberalised recruitment of third‐country nationals amidst labour shortages and demographic decline. At the same time, migration has become increasingly politicised, particula…
Political science (20 works) · Law (17 works) · Migration, Refugees, and Integration (16 works) · Sociology (16 works) · Economics (13 works) · Law (13 works) · Politics (13 works) · Political economy (8 works) · Refugee (7 works) · Social Policy and Reform Studies (7 works)