LIFE IN A "SUSPENDED STATE": RETHINKING THE RECEPTION OF ASYLUM-SEEKERS AND PATHWAYS TO INTEGRATION IN SWEDEN AND DENMARK

Across Western Europe, mass migrations have challenged the capacity of countries to manage the reception of migrants and ensure that those who stay will be prepared for life in their new host societies and become ‘good citizens.’ Existing research in whether and how migrants understand, share, and identify with the values and norms of the host society leaves a gap in knowledge about the sociocultural integration of asylum-seekers. This project challenges these and brings the theoretical perspectives of welfare state and street-level organizational theory to bear in investigating how the lived experience of asylum seekers in varying types of reception settings shapes their understanding of the society they are not yet part of - and ultimately affects subsequent socio-cultural integration trajectories. The project adopts a double comparative research design that enables comparisons across countries and across organizational types.