Imagined independence among highly skilled Swedish labour migrants

Abstract


 
 
 The political discussion on intra-European mobility differentiates between mobile, interna- tionally employable individuals and immobile, locally employed ones. Mobile EU citizens, in turn, are subdivided into “attractive” highly skilled workers and “unwanted” lower skil- led workers. Transnational labour mobility among the highly skilled often results from an individual’s free will to move, disregarding structural reasons. This article examines the expectations and experiences of highly skilled Swedish labour migrants seeking qualified employment in Germany and the UK, exploring their strategies and modes of handling the mismatch between expectations and actual experiences. The findings demonstrate that the vulnerability migrants experience while working abroad does not seem to affect their self-understanding of being independent, flexible and highly mobile European citizens. The interviewees’ self-understanding is therefore conceptualised as an imagined independence, and one that stands in sharp contrast to their experiences of vulnerability and unexpected dif- ficulty in the host country.
 
 

Otherness in the Workplace among Highly Skilled Labour Migrants: Swedes in Germany and the UK

“…The interviewed migrants increasingly experienced orientation difficulties in their new social environment because their habitus did not give them a symbolic advantage. Most migrants expected to be a rather privileged, mild version of an immigrant, an 'immigrant light' (man, Munich, late 20s), speaking the same language and having the same skin-colour as local employees (see also Wallinder, 2019). However, their experiences in the actual workplace tell a different story.…”

“…The Western European highly skilled Swedish migrants in the present study are thus privileged and mobile in relation to their transnationally recognized qualifications and national origin. These privileges are believed to affect not only their formal mobility opportunities, but also their self-image and expectations (Wallinder, 2019).…”

“…In the present study, the migrants expect to know the rules of the game because they have a professional status and educational training similar to that of their colleagues. Though they expect their mobility to be rather unproblematic (Wallinder, 2019), workplace problems do occur. The notion of habitus therefore provides an important conceptual framework for the significance of migrants’ self-image, a self-perception of ‘racial’ and Western superiority (Ahmed, 2007).…”

“…Such embedded histories affect the self-image and expectations of white, Western migrants (Ahmed, 2007). Nevertheless, real-life experiences may turn out to be more difficult than expected (Wallinder, 2019). By leaving behind habitual social contexts embedded in the native language, modes of behaviour and cultural praxis, previously ‘taken-for-granted’ behaviours may feel inadequate and lead professionals, educated and trained elsewhere, to feel that their core identity as a successful worker is being called into question (Huot and Rudman, 2010).…”

“…This self-image reflects an expected ‘privileged otherness’ among many of them that may be deeply bound to norms and values affecting both their conditions for mobility (see Ahmed, 2007) and their perceived ability to exit when required (Hannerz, 2006). In this respect, Swedish migrants do not consider themselves as immigrants (Wallinder, 2019).…”