It´s of great importance for both democracy and integration that people have an equal opportunity to participate in society. The main challenge today, which of course is even the greatest enemy of democracy and integration, is exclusion. Active forms of collaboration are required to meet this challenge. The purpose of this study was to evaluate Umea municipality´s investment in integration and investigate how immigrants who came to Umea a number of years ago today experience their own integration into Swedish society. This study was conducted with qualitative strategy of individual semi-structured interviews. The result shows that 6 of 8 users were very satisfied with the way our Umea municipality received them and helped them to get into society and out into the labor market. Much of this was due to municipal initiative with different meeting places for immigrants and Umea citizens, which had a very positive impact on the social network of immigrants.

This study focuses on economic integration of foreign-born men and women from Somalia and the former Yugoslavia in Sweden and in the Netherlands. Many welfare states of Western Europe are experiencing that some groups of immigrants have had a hard time to integrating economically. This has been dictated by high unemployment rates and low incomes. The aim of this thesis is therefore to describe the migration and the economic integration for the chosen groups and countries and to analyse factors that can have an effect on the immigrants’ labour market situation. Thesis also investigates institutional factors that can contribute to either positive or negative immigrant economic integration. For the purpose of gaining a deeper understanding of the subject a comparative method is used, which is characterised by both descriptive and explanatory analysis on immigrant economic integration. The analysis is based on literature, earlier studies and statistical data. The theories used for explaining labour market integration are human capital theory, social capital theory as well as the destination countries institutional factors, specifically the immigration and integration policies. It was found that the Yugoslavian immigrant groups had a positive labour market attachment when compared to the Somali immigrant groups. The Dutch former Yugoslavs have the best labour market success. Out of the examined Somalis; the Swedish Somalis had the best labour market success while the Dutch Somalis have shown the poorest labour market attachment. It was also found that, especially, the relation between the degrees of education has an effect on the immigrants’ economic integration. Furthermore, year of migration and age have also shown to have an effect on the investigated immigrants’ economic integration. The examined institutional factors, on the other hand, were not believed to have any direct impact on the immigrants’ labour market success.

This study explores the experiences of first-generation Somali immigrants working for Swedish political parties, shedding light on their challenges, opportunities, and contributions to the political sector. Through a qualitative case study approach, five semi-structured interviews were conducted. Tajfel and Turner's (1979) social identity theory and Crenshaw's (1989) intersectionality theory guided the study. The study revealed the significant barriers to entry that the participants face, including cultural and language barriers, prejudice and discrimination, and a lack of social and political networks. In addition, the study found that while the participants experienced exclusivity and resistance within the party, they also reported experiencing opportunities for political engagement, including support from fellow party members and advancement. Moreover, the findings suggest that political parties can play a crucial role in promoting immigrant political integration by providing opportunities for community engagement, training, and mentorship. However, the findings also highlight the need for more inclusive and culturally responsive policies and practices within political parties to better support the political participation and representation of immigrant politicians in political parties. This study adds to the literature by enhancing our understanding of the challenges of immigrant political integration.

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Text in English / The aim of this research is to assess the impact social capital has had on Somali businesses. It argues against the perception that Somali business expertise is derived solely from the principles of economics. It argues that social capital plays a pivotal role in shaping the Somali spirit of entrepreneurship. The role of social capital in the creation of Somali human and financial capital is examined. This thesis, being a qualitative study, used semi-structured, unstructured interviews and direct observation as data collection methods. / Sociology / M.A. (Sociology)