REMESO is the name of the new FAS centre at Linköping University where a group of researchers led by Professor Carl-Ulrik Schierup will study migration and integration issues in relation to the changing labour market and welfare state. How is, for instance, the ability to find work and training affected by being an immigrant in Sweden, i.e. by ethnic background?
These issues are not new to the university. Since 2000, the Department of Ethnic Studies has developed a research environment with funding partly from FAS, the National Institute for Working Life and the Norrköping Municipality, and the new centre will now develop this theme further.
The researchers at REMESO – or the Centre of Excellence for Research on Migration, Economy and Society, as it is officially known – will study the issues from three linked perspectives and in collaboration with researchers in other countries.
“We will first of all look at changes in the structure and organisation of the labour market in relation to migration and living conditions for people with an immigrant background,” says Carl-Ulrik Schierup. “We are studying the significance of a new work organisation in the private and public sector.”
Outsourcing can for instance mean several links in the pathway between principal and provider, he believes. A building contractor could receive a contract to remove asbestos from a property and then engage a subcontractor who lets the assignment be passed on several times. Ultimately the work may be carried out at low cost by immigrants who lack both work permits, wage agreements and protective equipment.
REMESO researchers will chart and follow processes within the building industry and household related services to determine what the changes mean for migrants, both in terms of finances, working conditions and living conditions in general.
The second perspective is to look at the monitoring and attitudes of labour market parties, government agencies and volunteer organisations with respect to declarations dealing with norms for working conditions, racism and discrimination as formulated by the UN, ILO, OECD and EU.
The third perspective deals with strategies for “sustainable development and civic conditions”, i.e. how we can work in practice to include migrants in the educational and training system and labour market.
“We are also working to develop a national and international research school and are allocating significant monies for guest researchers,” says Carl-Ulrik Schierup.
Text: Sara Bergqvist Månsson
FAS centre funding: SEK5 million annually.
For further information: 
, www.isv.liu.se/remeso/
