My research focuses on inclusion, mobility, and asylum. I am interested in how the structure of migration policy affects people, their living conditions, and the development of sustainable cities and communities.
Inclusion, Migration policy, and Asylum
I do research about the structure of migration and housing policies and their relationship to the inclusion of people with refugee backgrounds, about geographic and socioeconomic mobility, about local migration governance, and about asylum reception and the bureaucratic determination of asylum applications.
Over the past decade, migration policy has
changed and become more restrictive, both in Sweden and in an international
context. In my research, I focus on how the structure of migration policy
affects people’s circumstances, living conditions, and, consequently, the
development of inclusive cities and communities. One core area of my projects
examines how temporary residence permits influence social inclusion, labour
market participation, and well-being.
Another main area focuses on the settlementand housing available to people with refugee backgrounds, both in Sweden, at
the municipal level, and from a global
perspective. I am also involved in projects that analyse the role of
caseworkers in asylum applications and how asylum reception has changed over
time.
In my research, I primarily analyse
register and survey data using quantitative and quasi-experimental methods.
Since 2019, I have been developing the database “Preserving the voice of the
affected” which consists of register and survey data. The database targets
individuals who were granted different types of residence permits, permanent or
temporary, in Sweden in 2016.
Since then, I have worked in several research projects that in various ways relate to migration, including policy analysis, housing, and asylum assessment. You can read more further down the page under the heading Research.
Teaching
I am the programme director for the Master’s Programme in Ethnicity and Migration and I also teach within the Bachelor’s Programme in Social and Cultural Analysis.
My teaching covers topics related to migration, citizenship, research methods, segregation, neighbourhood development, and urban planning. I supervise students at the BA, MA, and PhD levels.
Political participation among persons with refugee backgrounds
Kristoffer Jutvik, Henrik Andersson (PI) and Emma Holmqvist are granted funding by the Swedish Research Council to conduct the project “Refugee's Political Participation in Times of Restrictive Migration Policies”.
Abstract: Refugees tend to participate less than natives in the elections and the political life of host-societies. Explaining this difference, research has pointed to the impact of less accessible citizenships and insecure settlement as factors that reduce the ability to participate, lowering a sense of belonging. Yet, globally, there has been a restrictive trend in the migration policy paradigm in which temporary permits have become the new norm. In Sweden, temporary permits were swiftly introduced in the abandonment of an inclusive approach to migration with permanent residence in July 2016.
Today, there is a lack of knowledge of how the change in Swedish migration policy affected political participation and perceived political inclusion among refugees. Addressing this knowledge gap, we use a study design that identifies two groups of refugees – 10,000 with temporary permits and 10,000 with permanent permits - granted residence in Sweden close to the implementation of the law. Our setup and data allow causal- and temporal analyses of political participation and individual perceptions about possibilities to participate in the democratic system in Sweden. We complement this data with in-depth interviews with stakeholders. We use a range of analytical methods in the form of both quantitative and qualitative methods, including quasi-experimental designs and thematic analyses.
Ongoing projects
Refugee's Political Participation in
Times of Restrictive Migration Policies
The
project is conducted together with Henrik Andersson (Uppsala university) and
Emma Holmqvist (Uppsala university). More information here.
Work and welfare in Sweden’s new era of
migration
An interdisciplinary study on the
influence of temporary residence permits on the behaviour of refugees and the
responses of those in power. The project is conducted together with Emma
Holmqvist (Uppsala University). More
information at Uppsala University.
Temporarily Welcome
An investigation of the links and impediments between the
restrictive turn in migration policy and the transformation to a socially
sustainable and inclusive society.Financed by Formas.
Admitted but not accommodated
Planning for sustainable housing for migrants with refugee
backgrounds in times of changing migration policies. The project is conducted together
with Branka Likic-Brboric (REMESO), Nicolina Ewards-Öberg (REMESO), Emma
Holmqvist (Uppsala universitet) och Irene Molina (Uppsala universitet). Financed
by Formas. More
information in Swedish: Hållbar bostad i tider av föränderlig migrationspolitik.
Finished projects
Gatekeepers of the Undesired?
A knowledge and research overview about the link between municipal
housing policy and the settlement of vulnerable groups. The project was
conducted together with Gustav Lidén (Miduniversity), Jon Nyhlén (Stockholm university),
Emma Holmqvist (Uppsala university) och Joel Jacobsson (Miduniversity)
Admitted but not accommodated (planning
project)
The planning phase to build an
organizational structure and process data to explore the challenges and
solutions to adequate housing for newly arrived refugees. The project was
conducted together with Hammam Skaik (REMESO) and Emma Holmqvist (Uppsala university)
Kristoffer Jutvik och Jennifer Shaneberger (University of Kentucky)
Abstract: This study examines how two housing policy options in Sweden, namely government-assigned accommodation and self-selected housing, affect refugees’ housing conditions, employment status, and income. Drawing on migrant network theory, we argue that refugees who find their own housing are more likely to access social ties that support faster integration into the labour market. We use administrative and survey data on over 16,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees granted residence in 2016, and we find that those in self-selected housing are, on average, more likely to be employed and to earn higher annual incomes than those in government-assigned housing. Introducing novel survey data, we also assess housing quality, security of tenure, and economic outcomes in neighbourhoods officially classified as areas with “socio-economic challenges”. While incomes are generally lower in these areas, refugees in self-selected housing still perform better than those in government-assigned housing. These findings highlight the importance of social networks for economic integration and raise concerns about how vulnerability classifications are applied in Swedish housing policy.
Kristoffer Jutvik and Emma Holmqvist (Uppsala University)
Abstract: Migration policy in the Nordic welfare states is increasingly marked by restrictiveness. Although research has studied the consequences of this policy trend, there is limited knowledge about how it affects stress levels and the well-being of migrants. In this study, we examine the impact of a policy change implemented in Sweden in 2016 that resulted in the swift abandonment of permanent residence. To conduct our research, we use survey data to compare differences in self-stated levels of stress and well-being among those granted permanent residence status according to the pre-2016 policy and those granted temporary residence according to the new policy. Our findings indicate a significant difference in well-being between the two groups, with those granted temporary residence permits experiencing lower levels of well-being as well as more stress related to their own and their family members’ status. Importantly, we conclude that a lower sense of well-being is correlated with higher levels of stress connected to residence status. These results have important implications for evaluating the impact of the new migration policy in Sweden and assessing similar policy trends in other contexts.
