The Darker side of Integration Policy: A study on public employment officers’ discursive construction of female immigrants’ employability

Despite its remarkable receptivity to immigrants entering the country, Sweden has one of the worst track records in Europe in terms of employing immigrants. However, although there are various studies devoted to integration issues, little scholarly attention has been directed toward public employment officers and their role as professional mediators in the integration process. By investigating the language used by public employment officers when they explain how they assist female immigrants in the process of entering the Swedish labor market, this study attempts to add to our knowledge of these officers and their role. It uses ideas from postcolonial theory and critical discourse analysis to show (a) how public employment officers make use of prevailing discourses to transform female immigrants from passive welfare beneficiaries into active and responsible job seekers, (b) how prevailing discourses contribute to the reproduction of culture and gender differences reminiscent of colonial discourses, and (c) how unequal power relations may favor the segregation of mainstream and alternative cultures.