Results & Products
The RJ Sabbatical made it possible for me to spend a year as a visiting scholar at the Centre for Criminology at the University of Oxford where I was able to develop and subsequently complete a book project on borders and the welfare state. This rich environment and its geographic distance enabled me to think about the research puzzle with a new perspective, deepen my understanding of it, and highlight the particular dynamics within an international context.

The book Nordic Nationalism and Penal Order: Walling the Welfare State seeks to explain the dramatic border closing with Denmark, reversing Sweden’s open door towards refugees and asylum seekers. In the context of globalization and mass mobility, the book examines how such a robust welfare state has increasingly reinscribed national borders in ways that rely on and blur the boundaries of crime control and immigration. The book develops a theory of penal nationalism to explain how and why criminal justice is used to uphold national projects such as welfare states. One of its central findings is how concerns about the sustainability of the welfare state itself, its aim to provide security, social and economic well being for those on the inside, has led to the imposition of penal harm and insecurity for those on the outside. The welfare state’s ideals are used counter-intuitively to advance restrictive policies.

In addition, the book takes up the significant role of civil society in supporting and challenging the state’s response to refugees and asylum seekers. During the height of the refugee crisis and long since after, civil society efforts have supplemented, extended and challenged official responses, often operating out of a duty of care and social solidarity. By doing so, some groups have sought to redraw the boundaries of inclusion and state responsibility.

There are several upcoming events planned around the book, including a book launch at the All Souls Criminology seminar series at the University of Oxford (Jan 2018), a book review symposium on the Border Criminologies blog (Nov 2017), a proposal for Author Meets Reader at Law & Society Association (June 2018), a proposed panel for the Swedish Sociological Association (March 2018), and a conversation on the book at the Sociology Department at Stockholm University (Feb 2018), among other events. I plan to use the book to make contributions to the public debate in Sweden around these issues, which seem to be missing an examination of threats to the rule of law posed by increased securitization.

While the book is a culmination of a long-term research project, it raises new sets of questions for further exploration. Questions remain about the future trajectory of migration policies and their effects on society. To what extent do restrictive migration policies, particularly as they merge with crime control and security concerns, put pressure on the rule of law, due process, and equal treatment? What kinds of effects do these policies and practices have on democratic principles and institutions? At the same time, it is an open question as to the role and effects of civil society in responding to the refugee crisis. Many groups clearly played a key role in supporting official responses. But to what degree is civil society providing a parallel welfare state, providing services, support, and integration? And to what extent are civil society actors, including asylum seekers, incorporated into the political process? In other words, to what degree is civil society a service provider, an agent of social integration and cohesion, or a political actor that can inform and influence policies?

How can we reexamine the nexus of welfare, immigration, and criminal justice through the democratic process and principles?


New Projects & International Collaboration
The RJ Sabbatical and completed book project have led to a number of new collaborations, positions, papers and research projects.

For example, shortly after I returned to Stockholm University, I was appointed an Associate Director of the Border Criminologies network, housed at the University Oxford. Border Criminologies is a network of academics, researchers, practitioners, and those affected by border controls that examine the causes and consequences of border practices. In this role, I have been tasked with public outreach and have subsequently developed with Professor Mary Bosworth a new communications project based on video and audio podcasts. Our goal here is to better communicate our research and contribute to public dialogues about reform in criminal justice and border control.

In addition, I was asked to join NORDHOST, a collaborative project on Nordic Hospitalities in the Context of Migration. As part of this project, I am working with Professor Katja Franko at Oslo and Maartje van der Woude at Leiden, the Netherlands, on the role of civil society in resisting and advancing border controls. The Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law, University of Oslo, appointed me Visiting Professor during the tenure of this project.

Furthermore, I have been invited to present and contribute a paper to the highly prestigious British Academy conference on inequality, crime and punishment in December 2017. I have been invited to a workshop on Transnational Legal Ordering of Criminal Justice, hosted at the University of California, Irvine, School of Law (September 2018). Here I will develop the global scale of my research and the implications for a new legal order. Recently I returned from international workshop on punishment and welfare state studies at Southern Denmark University.

The RJ Sabbatical has led to several new trajectories for my research agenda, including work on inequality, transnational legal ordering, the democratic process, and public outreach. It expanded the reach of my international networks and collaborations.

Publications
Further publications are indicated in the publications list.