Tove Samzelius
Senior lecturer/Programme director

Presentation

I work as a senior lecturer and researcher in social work and am the programme coordinator for the Master’s programme in Social Work. I completed my PhD in December 2020 at Malmö University with a thesis focusing on the experiences of single, foreign-born mothers living in homelessness and poverty in Sweden. The study highlights how the living conditions of children and women are shaped by unequal power structures and the welfare policy context. The thesis was awarded the ‘Thesis of the Year 2021’ prize at Malmö University for making a significant contribution to research on poverty and vulnerability in contemporary Sweden.

In my research, I have continued to focus on how the organisation of welfare systems and social policy shape people’s living conditions, and how policy is translated into practice. I'm currently working on a research project funded by Majblomman that examines challenges faced by single parents on long-term low incomes within a changing welfare context. Previously, with funding from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, I studied collaboration between welfare organisations to meet the needs of the long-term unemployed with health issues, together with Rickard Ulmestig and Mikael Bengtsson from Linnaeus University.

Prior to joining the university I worked in the third sector for over 20 years and have experience of both grassroots community development work and advocacy work on a national and European level in the UK and Sweden. During my time as a Director of the Bristol-based Single Parent Action Network (SPAN) I was involved in the development of numerous community-university partnerships, including co-produced and participatory research projects involving community members as peer-researchers. Among other things, I played a key role in establishing SPAN as a partner for Productive Margins, a highly innovative co-produced research project between Bristol and Cardiff Universities, which sought to understand how the expertise and experience of people and communities excluded from participation in regulatory regimes that impact their daily lives can be politically productive. Together with collegues from Bristol University, I also set up and co-designed numerous short courses and taster sessions designed to engage new learners, including oral history, writing for children, literary studies, and an introduction to anthropology.

My experiences with community education and from community-engaged practice has continued to inform my approach to both teaching and research. I have an inter-disciplinary and creative approach, which informs both my practice and thinking. Together with Vanna Nordling I have developed tailor-made courses for community development practicioners employed by local authorities in Sweden and I often collaborate with both community and statutory agencies. In a current research project, Vanna Nordling and I are working with Malmö City Council and community organisations investigating the role of diologue in building trust within and across different communities of interest. In this project I’m also working with art-based research methods together with visual artist Helena Fernández-Cavada.

My teaching covers poverty-aware practice, social policy, social theory and qualitative research methods. I have been responsible for the introductory course on the master program in social work since 2022 and since 2025, I hold the position as Program Director. I have an extensive network outside the university and continue to collaborate with grassroots groups as well as international NGOs and statutory agencies, which benefits students as well as research collaborations. I’m often invited to speak in public gatherings and in different media outlets.

I’m currently co-supervising two PhD students: Marie Enqvist-Ridell who writes about the implementation of an early intervention program targeting children and their parents in Malmö, and, Zaid Al-Karkhi who is investigating changing patterns in the applications for financial aid to the Charity Majblomman from families living in poverty.