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Maria Persdotter

Associate Professor

Senior lecturer at the Centre for Local Government Studies and the Division of Social Work. As a researcher, I focus mainly on issues at the intersection of migration- and social policy.  

The intersection of social policy and migration policy

My research mainly concerns the intersection of social policy and migration policy. I also have a keen interest in urban politics, and in feminist and critical race theory.

I am employed as a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Culture and Society and split my time between the Centre for Local Government Studies and the Division of Social Work.

Currently, I am involved in a number of different research projects that all concerns inclusion and exclusion from the Swedish welfare state, homelessness and inequality.

My educational background is in human geography. I hold a double PhD degree in Urban studies from Malmö University (SE) and Roskilde University (DK). My PhD dissertation, Free to Move Along, was based on an in-depth qualitative study of the municipal-level governance of homeless Roma EU citizens during 2014-2016. The thesis is available here.

Teaching

I teach in the undergraduate program in social work and supervise candidate and master students in social work.

Publications

ResearchGate

Maria Persdotter on ResearchGate

2026

Ulrika Wernesjö, Maria Persdotter (2026) Bordering the outermost safety net: social assistance for irregularised migrants in Sweden, 1982-2018 European Social Work Research, Vol. 4, p. 295-309 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1332/27551768y2026d000000095
Ulrika Wernesjö, Maria Persdotter (2026) Bordering the outermost safety net: social assistance for irregularised migrants in Sweden, 1982-2018 European Social Work Research (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1332/27551768Y2026D000000095

2025

Anna Lundberg, Maria Persdotter, Ulrika Wernesjö (2025) How do changes to social rights happen?: Tracing changes in the right to social assistance for irregularised migrants in Sweden International Journal of Law in Context (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1744552324000430

2024

Maria Persdotter (2024) Both spectacular and structural: Reflections on Mega Events and Mass Displacements Homeless in Europe Magazine, Vol. Winter, p. 11-15 (Article in journal)
Anna Lundberg, Sandra Mantu, Maria Persdotter, Jean-Pierre Tabin, Ulrika Wernesjö (2024) The welfare state Critical Social Policy, Vol. 44, p. 588-604 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/02610183241273648

Teaching

Single-subject courses in Social work

We present here single-subject courses given within the Division of Social Work at the Department of Culture and Society.

Organisation

A lock for love at a fence.

Division of Social Work (SOCARB)

The division oversees education and research in the field of social work.

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.