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Managing Refugees’ Housing Risks Through Responsibilisation Practices

Author

Listed:
  • Eva Wikström

    (Department of Social Work, Umeå University, Sweden)

  • Madeleine Eriksson

    (Department of Geography, Umeå University, Sweden)

Abstract

This article examines the concepts of “housing risk” and “responsibilisation,” and their impact on housing inclusion for refugees in a northern Swedish municipality. The interviews reveal that local policies often fail to recognize the welfare state’s responsibility to ensure housing for refugees, instead shifting this burden to social workers, individuals, and informal networks. Social workers face ethical dilemmas in balancing their roles as defenders of housing rights and extensions of the welfare state. The findings suggest that the discursive framing of refugees as “risky objects” reflects an ideology that discourages their long‐term settlement and silences housing inequality. Consequently, managing refugees’ housing risks through responsibilisation practices, rather than addressing systemic inequalities and national political failures, risks backfiring. The study calls for a reevaluation of housing policies by acknowledging housing inequalities and incorporating social workers’ insights and local conditions outside metropolitan areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Eva Wikström & Madeleine Eriksson, 2024. "Managing Refugees’ Housing Risks Through Responsibilisation Practices," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 12.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v12:y:2024:a:8448
    DOI: 10.17645/si.8448
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martin Grander, 2023. "The inbetweeners of the housing markets – young adults facing housing inequality in Malmö, Sweden," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 505-522, March.
    2. Rianne Dekker & Henrik Emilsson & Bernhard Krieger & Peter Scholten, 2015. "A Local Dimension of Integration Policies? A Comparative Study of Berlin, Malmö, and Rotterdam," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 633-658, September.
    3. Erika Sandow & Emma Lundholm, 2023. "Leaving the City: Counterurbanisation and Internal Return Migration in Sweden," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 39(1), pages 1-25, December.
    4. Brett Christophers, 2022. "Mind the rent gap: Blackstone, housing investment and the reordering of urban rent surfaces," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(4), pages 698-716, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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