VARFÖR GÖR INTE INVANDRARE POLITISK KARRIÄR I SAMMA UTSTRÄCKNING SOM SVENSKFÖDDA? En intervjustudie om vägen in i politiken

Abstract

Immigrants’ internal reasoning and sense of capacity has been under little scrutiny in the relatively new research field of immigrants’ political integration. Departing from a study of Soininen and Qvist (2021) regarding the intraparty factors hindering immigrants’ political career opportunities in Sweden, this thesis develops the understanding of the political integration of immigrants in posing the question “Why are immigrants not going into a political career in the same extent as Swedish-born citizens?”. Through interviews with immigrants who are part of voluntary associations and/or are members in political parties without holding or having held any political positions of trust, this thesis identifies new perspectives to findings in Soininen and Qvist (2021) and finds new areas of interest for further research. The empirical analysis uses social capital theory to contextualize memberships in different types of associations in order to explain the need for different individuals and groups to interact with each other and with counterparts on different levels. Furthermore, this thesis discusses the effect of not settling in a big city suburb with a high rate of immigrants on immigrants’ knowledge about Swedish society and civic engagement and finds that arriving to a smaller town could have an initial positive effect on the civic, and in extension the political engagement.