Social dumping between center and periphery: prevalence and extent, policy mechanisms and lived experiences of housing-insecure persons in Sweden

Research problem and specific questionsThe last few years have seen frequent reports of ‘social dumping practices’ (SDPs) in Swedish news media.

As the story goes, metropolitan municipalities with a shortage of affordable housing are ‘dumping’ individuals and families in peripheral municipalities – thus abandoning their social responsibilities towards those affected. The main targets appear to be newly arrived refugee migrants. Despite considerable public debate, there is almost no scholarly research that addresses SDPs.

This project seeks to fill this gap, and explain 1) if and where SDPs take place; 2) what policy factors contribute to or counteract SDPs; 3) how SDPs are enacted and 4) what the social consequences for receiving municipalities and affected individuals are.

Data and methodThe interdisciplinary team investigates SDPs at the municipal scale using a mixed-methods approach encompassing: 1) a register study of the extent and prevalence of SDPs, 2) a systematic mapping of the relationship between SPDs and policy factors, based on survey data, 3) intensive case studies of municipal policies and practices related to SDP in two sending and two receiving municipalities, and 4) in-depth interviews with individuals affected by SDPs.

A final work package aims towards synthesising the overall findings. Qualitative analyses are conducted in collaboration with research participants and external stakeholders.

Societal relevance and utilisation‘Social dumping’ raises questions about the content of social citizenship and the boundaries of the municipalities’ responsibilities to deliver social rights in terms of housing and social services to its residents.

While ‘social dumping’ has generated significant public debate in recent years, the issue remains poorly understood. The project thus provides an empirically grounded and theoretically informed analysis of a topical issue.

The results should be of particular interest to state and municipal actors as well as NGOs in the fields of social housing and migrant accommodation and integration policy.

Plan for project realisationThe project will be based at the Centre for Local Government Studies where there is a strong tradition of dialogue and collaboration between researchers, politicians and public officials.

The results will be disseminated through scientific journal articles, opinion- and popular scientific texts and audio/visual outputs, as well as through workshops with government stakeholders.