Organisation, professionalisation and working life (OPA) is a research group at the Department of Social Work that explores how social work is shaped and transformed within welfare organisations and working life. Through empirical, theoretical and conceptual analyses, we examine the interplay between organisation, professional practice and the conditions of working life in a time of transformation.

Our Research

Our research is driven by an ambition to understand how organisational, professional and welfare-state frameworks shape and are shaped by the practice and scope of social work.

  • A central theme concerns how these frameworks influence people’s opportunities for participation and their pathways from dependency on support to self-sufficiency, as well as how these opportunities are negotiated in encounters between profession, organisation and policy.
  • Our research also highlights the significance of organisational change, such as newly implemented technologies and working methods, alongside issues of diversity and inclusion within organisations and working life more broadly.

We work empirically, theoretically and conceptually, and our research is characterised by methodological width. The group combines qualitative approaches such as ethnography, interviews and document analysis with quantitative methods, register-based studies and statistical analyses of labour market, income-support and organisational data. This combination enables us to study both everyday practices and broader structural patterns in the development of welfare organisations.

Collaboration and social relevance

We collaborate closely with municipalities, regions, government agencies, civil society and practice-oriented research environments. Through this dialogue, we develop knowledge that is relevant to research, policy and the practical field of social work.

Link to education

The research group also has a strong link to education, where the outcomes and perspectives of our research are integrated into teaching at undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels. In this way, the group contributes to strengthening students’ understanding of social work as a profession, a research field and a changing domain of working life.

Research group leaders

Paula Mulinari

Paula Mulinari – Associate Professor/Senior lecturer

paula.mulinari@mau.se
+46 40 665 79 81

Department of Social Work

Kettil Nordesjö

Kettil Nordesjö – Associate Professor/Senior lecturer

kettil.nordesjo@mau.se
+46 40 665 72 92

Department of Social Work

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External group members