This doctoral research addresses the complex and multifaceted
relation between ‘irregular’ migration and the phenomenon of
health inequalities. The aim is to provide a cultural analytical
account of the ways in which people who undergo the asylum
process in Sweden navigate, negotiate, and practice health in
uncertain times. Through an ethnographic investigation into a
group of asylum seekers’ embodied experiences of evaluating
health, assessing risk, and preventing illness before and during
the COVID-19 pandemic, this study explores how ambiguities of
the asylum process is perceived and responded to by those who
hope to gain membership of the new society.