Within migration studies, the concept of identity has come to play a significant role in both immigrants’ and the descendants’ lives. The aim of this paper is to get more in-depth knowledge of how the Lebanese community construct their identity in Sweden by focusing on Scania region. This is done by analysing their self-identification, ethnic identity, cultural identity and how they feel they are perceived by the mainstream society. This qualitative study is based on six semi-structured interviews with first-generation Lebanese immigrants who came to Sweden in the 1980s because of the civil war in Lebanon. In addition, six semi-structured interviews with the descendants who are born in Sweden to two Lebanese parents. The results of the study show that the first-generation immigrants have a strong sense of being Lebanese. However, the descendants have developed a bicultural identity that is context dependent.

This paper analyses the probability that first- and second-generation immigrants in Sweden enter the self-employment market, and the propensity of being self-employed in certain industry levels. Furthermore, whether the motives and characteristics for choosing self-employment differ between generations by including control variables. To solve this thesis question, a cross-sectional sampling from the European Social Survey database between the years 2010 to 2018 and the Linear Probability Model was used. The result in this study indicated that the propensity to become self-employed is not significant between the analysed generations. Concluding that first- and second-generation immigrants have an equal amount of activeness in self-employment and that all characteristics have an effect on their propensity to become self-employed. The generations being self-employed in the low-barrier industry is dependent on their educational level. It was found that females had the highest probability of being self-employed in comparison to males. However, a drawback of this study was the sample size which was significantly small and also the multiple variables that were insignificant.

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This study has examined if there is a correlation between Offline Social Network and voting participation in the European Parliamentary elections. The study has been done through a qualitative method, doing five different deep interviews. The selection has been based upon the group of first generation immigrants coming from a non-EU European country. The study has showed indications that level of education, participation in associations and participation in social activities are affecting the Offline Social Network of a person. The different Offline Social Networks have shown upon different attitudes towards voting politically. It also showed upon different levels of knowledge about the European Union politics and the elections to the European Parliament. The study showed that the number of Offline Social Networks might not be what affects whether the respondents are voting or not, it shows to be rather connected to what kind of social networks. This have been connected to the field-theory of Bourdieu, which claims that a person´s habitus is affected by the volume of for example cultural and social capital which also seems to have an effect on what Offline Social Network that the individual is connected to. The way that a person appears in the social room is affected by the volume of capital and how the social room is letting the individual appear. This shows to affect whether someone votes or not.

The increased number of international immigrants and associated global problems of health deterioration and vitamin D (vitD) deficiency/insufficiency may lead to significant burdens for host countries. This thesis investigated immigrants’ health deterioration and vitD status through a comprehensive analysis of Canadian national vitD data, systematic evaluation of the quality/content of clinical practice guidelines, and global systematic review of vitD status and determinants among first-generation immigrants. Immigrants had lower serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (S-25(OH)D) and higher melanin levels than non-immigrants. S-25(OH)D levels improved over time, with ethnicity the main factor explaining variations. The longer immigrants lived in Canada, the higher the prevalence of chronic diseases (CDs), potentially reflecting health deterioration. Low levels of accumulated S-25(OH)D may impact CD-related biomarkers, partially explaining immigrants’ health deterioration over time. Local and international guidance regarding immigrants’ vitD deficiency/insufficiency was lacking. Improving immigrants’ vitD status requires prevention and intervention programs (e.g., vitD supplementation/screening), relevant national/international guidelines, and longitudinal research clarifying the complex bidirectional association between S-25(OH)D and CDs.

I vår undersökning ville vi belysa unga förtagenerations-invandrarkvinnors identitets förändring. Dessa unga kvinnor lever under inflytande av två kulturer där deras identitetstillhörighet till sitt ursprung oftast bestäms av ett essentialistiskt synsätt, vilket innebär att den definieras av ett gemensamt ursprung och en speciell kulturtillhörighet. Men kvinnorna i vår studie visar att deras identitet egentligen bygger mer på ett konstruktivistiskt synsätt där den kulturella identiteten inte bestäms av en gemensam tillhörighet utan att identiteten förändras och omskapas hela tiden beroende på den situation man befinner sig i. Vi har gjort ett urval där vi har valt aktiva och kvinnor som har ansträngt sig för att integreras i det svenska samhället och inte valt ”den traditionella hemmafrun”. Syftet med vår studie är att få kunskap och att undersöka hur dessa kvinnor uppfattar sig själva och hur samhället uppfattar deras identitet samt i vilket sammanhang deras identitet förändras. Vi har valt att utgå utifrån olika teoretiska utgångspunkter så som integration, identitet, kulturell identitet, dubbla identiteter, fördomar och tillhörighet och utanförskap som kommer att användas i vår analys av intervjuresultatet. Med en kvalitativ metod ville vi besvara forskningsfrågorna: Hur uppfattar kvinnorna själva sin egen identitet? Hur tror de att andra i omgivningen uppfattar deras identitet? Hur förändras identiteten i olika sammanhang? Känner kvinnorna sig integrerade i det svenska samhället eller exkluderade? Vilka fördelar, respektive nackdelar finns det med att ha dubbla identiteter eller en identitet? / Abstract "Welcome home again" – a study of immigrant women’s identity changes in the Swedish society. In our research, we intend to highlight the identity formations and changes of young immigrant women. These young women live under the influence of two cultures where their belonging to their “origin” is often determined by an essentialist approach, which indicates that it is defined by a common origin and a specific cultural belonging. Yet, the women in our study suggest that their identity is shaped according to a constructionist approach, where the cultural identity is not determined by a common belonging; instead, their identity tend to change as it is constantly reconstructed in accordance with their (social) condition. We have made a selection, where we have chosen active women that have worked hard to integrate in the Swedish society, rather than the "traditional housewife". The purpose of our study is to explore, and thus understand, how these women perceive themselves, how the society perceives their identity, and how their identity changes. We have decided to proceed from different theoretical starting-points, such as integration, identity, cultural identity, dual identities, prejudices, inclusion and exclusion, that will be applied in our analysis of the interviews. By applying a qualitative method, our intention is to answer the following research questions: How do these women perceive their own identity? How do people in their surroundings perceive their identity, according to the women themselves? How does the identity change in different contexts? Do the women feel integrated in the Swedish society or do they feel excluded? What are the advantages and disadvantages of having dual identities and a single identity? Key words: first-generation immigrants, integration, identity, cultural identity, dual identities, prejudices, inclusion and exclusion.

The main purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of how first and second generation immigrants from former Yugoslavia experience and precive their national identity. Furthermore to understand differences and similarities between first-generation and second-generation immigrants based on inbetweenship. Previous research has shown that people with one or more cultural backgrunds tend to develop more fluid identity in comparson to people who only have one cultural backgrund. Furthermore, previous research has also shown that people with immigrant background or a multi-ethnic background tend to end up in betweenship, to greater extent. To achieve the study`s purpose and answer the research questions I have chosen to conduct a qualitative interview study based on semi-structured interviews with first and second generation immigrants from former Yugoslavia living in Sweden. The theories used in the study to analyze the result were inbetweenship and national identity as a grounded conceptual definition.  The results showed that first-generation immigrants from former Yugoslavia did not perceive themselves as Swedes, but in all cases referred to their ethnic origin when speaking about their national identity and identity perception. The results also showed that second-generation immigrants partly experienced their identity in similar way. However, second-generation immigrants tended to experience their identity as Swedish and not in relation to their ethnic origin in half of the cases.