Welcome to the migration seminar

Doctorate final seminar: Time and temporality in Swedish family reunification – Exploring temporal governance and the collective wait of transnational families

Profile

Hilda Gustafsson, doctoral student in International Migration and Ethnic Relations, Department of Global Political Studies, Malmö University

Attendance

This is a hybrid seminar, you are welcome to connect via Zoom or join us at MIM seminar room, floor 9, Niagara, Nordenskiöldsgatan 1. To attend on campus, please gather by the reception area at 13.05. If you have any questions, send an email to mim@mau.se.

Abstract

This thesis explores time and temporality in Swedish family reunification. It focuses on how families who have been separated because of migration policies experience their time in waiting, and the temporal mechanisms embedded in the governance of reunification that dictate access and waiting conditions for those wishing to have a future together in Sweden.

Over the past decade, Swedish family reunification policy has become increasingly restrictive, requiring most families to meet financial and housing requirements to reunite. During the reunification process, families are separated against their will, navigating transnational lives. Yet despite the policy shift and an upsurge of literature on temporality in migration, limited attention has been given to the temporalities of reunification, particularly beyond the contexts of forced migration or long-term transnational family life.

Using document analysis and semi-structured interviews with Swedish citizens, work permit holders, student migrants as well as refugees, this thesis broadens the temporal turn in migration studies by including both temporal experiences and governance mechanisms across diverse family contexts. Families’ experiences are analyzed through concepts from transnational family studies (article 1) and frameworks of temporal borders and deservingness (article 2). The third article develops an analytical framework of temporal governance techniques and applies it to official documents on Swedish family reunification. Together, these perspectives provide a comprehensive understanding of time and temporality in family reunification, addressing its implications at institutional, family, and individual levels.

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