Home
Photo of Joseph Trawicki Anderson

Joseph Trawicki Anderson

Associate Professor

My research focuses on the governance of migration, with a particular focus on the role played by non-state actors. 

Migration Governance

My research is broadly interested in the logics and practices of migration governance, particularly as it relates to the involvement of non-state (often profit seeking) actors.

This has included for instance work on guestworker schemes in both the United States and Southeast Asia, but also research on the externalization of migration control in the EU to Africa and changes in Swedish migration policy. Running through these different projects has been an ongoing interest in the entanglement of public and private actors and interests and how this produces new forms of authority and control over migrants.

Reserach

Employers and their new roles in Swedish migration policy (2023-2026)

This project is funded by FORTE and conducted together with Professor Andreas Diedrich.

This project examines the role of Swedish employers in the implementation of migration policy.

As Swedish migration policy has increasingly relied on employment to determine legal status, even for those in Sweden seeking protection, employers play an increasingly relevant role in the extension of migration status.

Labour recruitment and brokerage in South-South migration: The case of MOUs between Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia (2023-2027)

This project, funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR).

This project examines bilateral labor agreements between Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia to examine how they address issues of migrant protection. Memoranda of Understanding/Bilateral Labor Agreements, by giving sending states greater sway over the migration process, hold the potential to help promote migrant protection. However, in practice, they have often failed to live up to this potential. This project therefore examines key agreements in greater depths to explore how they are formed, how they function, and the kinds of impacts they have on the experiences of migrant workers.

Publications

2020

Joseph Trawicki Anderson (2020) Managing labour migration in Malaysia: foreign workers and the challenges of 'control' beyond liberal democracies Third World Quarterly, Vol. 42, p. 86-104 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2020.1784003

News

A man standing in front of some trees.

06 July 2026

New REMESO lecturer: ”Migration is a global phenomenon”

Joseph Trawicki Anderson is one of two new senior lecturers soon joining REMESO. When he takes up his position in August 2026, he will bring a global perspective and is keen to discuss the state of the growing field of migration studies.

Organisation

Migration camp

Division of Migration, Ethnicity and Society (REMESO)

REMESO pursues research and education on transnational migration, ethnic diversity and citizenship in relation to changes in labour and welfare.

Department of Culture and Society (IKOS)

At the Department of Culture and Society (IKOS), social sciences and the humanities gather in environments where research and education work together.
Groups of students at tables in Studenthuset

Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FILFAK)

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences provides education and research in humanities, social- and behavioral sciences, commercial law, art disciplines and thematic science.