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Daniel HedlundSenior lecturer, associate professor

About me

I am a senior lecturer in Social Work with a focus on Public Administrative Law and Reader in Sociology of Law.

My research interests relate to migration and Migration Law, human rights and challenges confronting the welfare state. The main empirical focus of my research has been on the conditions for unaccompanied children in asylum procedure, where I hold many years of experience in examining credibility issues. Another research theme has been concerned with exploring to what extent representatives of children, such as appointed legal guardians, can replace the absence of parents as custodians in asylum reception.

My academic background is heavily multi-disciplinary and I have participated in several cross-disciplinary research networks and initiatives, both as a researcher and as coordinator. Since 2021, I am affiliated to the Centre for Multidisciplinary Research on Religion and Society (CRS) at Uppsala University.

I defended my thesis in Child and Youth Science at Stockholm University in 2016. Before I took up my current position at Stockholm University, I was postdoctoral reseacher with Migration Law focus at the Faculty of Law, Uppsala University (2019-2021). Between 2017 and 2019, I was postdoctoral researcher and project coordinator within the Children, Migration, Integration (CMI) Initiative at Stockholm University. In 2014, I was Visiting Postgraduate Researcher at the Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Sydney, and in 2010 I was Higher Degree Research Officer to the Dean of Graduate Studies at Australian Catholic University (ACU).

Academic background

Reader in Sociology of Law, Uppsala University, 2022.

PhD, Stockholm University, 2016.

Master of Human Rights, University of Sydney, 2011.

Master of Laws, Stockholm University, 2008.

Bachelor of Social Science, Stockholm University, 2007.

Faculty of Law, University of Chile, 2005 (Linnaeus-Palme Scholar, March-December).

Publications

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

  • Language has a home

    2021. Daniel Hedlund, Anna Åhlund. Journal of ethnic and migration studies 47 (7), 1578-1595

    Article

    This article explores the ways in which the results of language analyses were taken into account when Swedish Migration Agency (SMA) case officers built arguments concerning unaccompanied children's countries of origin. The research literature on LADO has primarily commented on risks of unreliability. Data was drawn from one calendar year of asylum decisions concerning unaccompanied children, and the sample where LADO had been conducted was analysed by qualitative thematic analysis. The main finding indicates that LADO is primarily used as an enhancer of other circumstances present in the asylum case, which means that it has the potential to 'tip the scales' into approval or rejection. The findings also suggest that case officers use the results of LADO in different ways to regulate the issue of credibility depending on the political and geographical dynamics in the children's reported countries of origin. The practical implications are that migration authorities should regularly examine to what extent the results of LADO are given weight in asylum case processing and that the influence of LADO results on individual decisions should be comprehensively explained in child consequence analyses.

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  • Unaccompanied girls with precarious odds

    2021. Daniel Hedlund, Lisa Salmonsson, Tove Sohlberg. The Journal of Refugee Studies 34 (4), 3871-3887

    Article

    Statistics made available by the Swedish Migration Agency (SMA) make it possible to follow first-decision outcomes in asylum cases concerning unaccompanied children (types of residence permits granted, percentage of rejections, etc.). Yet, we know little about differences in asylum decision outcomes for unaccompanied children coming to Sweden. Therefore, we wanted to find out how gender, country of origin, and asylum reports are associated with the likelihood of being granted residency. Asylum decisions concerning unaccompanied children were first coded inductively. These codes were later merged into larger categories that were analyzed quantitatively by logistic regression analysis. The data sample consisted of one calendar year of asylum decisions issued by the SMA. Results show that fewer girls than boys were granted asylum, and in fact, girls have an overall lower prospect of being granted residency. Results also display statistically significant gender differences in reported reasons for seeking asylum.

    Read more about Unaccompanied girls with precarious odds

  • Godmanskap för ensamkommande barn – dilemman i det offentligas ansvar

    2019. Daniel Hedlund. Barn, migration och integration i en utmanande tid, 107-126

    Chapter

    Det här kapitlet belyser godmanskapet för ensamkommande barn och utgör en översikt av regelverket som styr godmanskapet i Sverige och den forskning som finns på området, både internationellt och nationellt. Regelverket som grundläggs i lag (2005:429) om god man för ensamkommande barn (LGEB) är utgångspunkten för genomgången, men godmanskapet blir därtill placerat i ett vidare sammanhang. Ambitionen är att synliggöra dilemman som kan uppstå i förhållande till överförmyndarens rekrytering och tillsyn av gode män samt relationen mellan gode män och deras huvudmän, det vill säga ensamkommande barn. Sex dilemman identifieras. Det handlar om 1) vad barnet ska ha rätt till utöver skydd mot rättsförluster, 2) gränserna för den gode mannens uppdrag i praktiken, 3) överförmyndarens kvalitativa bedömning i rekryteringen av gode män, 4) barnets möjlighet att yttra sig när en god man utses, 5) riskerna för negativ särbehandling genom att gode män för ensamkommande barn regleras genom speciallagstiftning, samt 6) balansen mellan intentioner att skydda ensamkommande barn ”som grupp” och deras skiftande individuella behov, där särskilt det senare ställer krav på den gode mannens kompetens. Kapitlet avslutas med att lyfta frågan om hur godmanskapet och dess förutsättningar och dilemman kan relateras till integration.

    Read more about Godmanskap för ensamkommande barn – dilemman i det offentligas ansvar

  • The Human Rights and Dignity of Asylum-seeking Unaccompanied Minors

    2019. Daniel Hedlund.

    Conference

    Previous research has offered that the construction of the asylum-seeking child is complex as it unites children (predominantly understood as passive) with immigration (agency). Research has also argued that the principles prescribed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are not sufficiently implemented by states in asylum procedure. As a point of departure, this presentation views children's rights as human rights, and that "children's rights" analysis can be strengthened by further theoretization.The main argument of the presentation is that there is a strong link between the human rights of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum and the concept of dignity, understood here as the possibility of self-determination in practice.The presentation draws on a two larger research projects about unaccompanied minors in Swedish asylum policy. The projects have analyzed interview data about the perceived life conditions of unaccompanied minors collected from members of parliament, public servants, unaccompanied minors and their guardians. The projects have also examined asylum decisions issued by the Swedish Migration Agency concerning unaccompanied minors' credibility. Overall, the results indicate that the asylum claims of unaccompanied minors are questioned to an extensive degree, although balanced to some extent by general intentions to protect "all" children, and that the perceptions about quality in asylum reception appears to be shaped by fiscal considerations. As the results are based on research conducted both at the level of parliament as well as including "street-level bureaucracy", and the minors themselves, the findings can be used to explore the social and legal mechanisms influencing the political, social, cultural, and economic rights of unaccompanied minors in practice. These mechanisms, in turn, seem to be conditioning the dignity of unaccompanied minors in Swedish asylum policy and procedure.

    Read more about The Human Rights and Dignity of Asylum-seeking Unaccompanied Minors

  • Unaccompanied children claiming asylum on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity

    2019. Daniel Hedlund, Thomas Wimark. The Journal of Refugee Studies 32 (2), 257-277

    Article

    This study explores the asylum claims of unaccompanied children concerning sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) and examines how case officers at the Swedish Migration Agency (SMA) responded to the credibility of their claims. The SMA provided one calendar year of asylum decisions concerning unaccompanied children, and 16 SOGI cases were identified. A thematic analysis of the cases was conducted. The results showed that case officers directed their focus to the quality of the children’s sexual relationships. This indicates that the case officers expect children to engage in long-term relationships similar to adults, despite their age. Furthermore, case officers tended to only render narratives credible if the society as whole was narrated as perpetrators. This indicates that case officers expect origin societies to be monolithic. The main conclusion, therefore, is that case officers are guided both by homonormative as well as homonationalist views in their decision-making process.

    Read more about Unaccompanied children claiming asylum on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity

  • Challenges in the Guardianship of Unaccompanied Minors Seeking Asylum

    2018. Daniel Hedlund, Lisa Salmonsson. The International Journal of Children's Rights 26 (3), 489-509

    Article

    In this paper we explore the research literature relating to the guardianship of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum. In particular, we seek to find out what type of dilemmas have been identified by research concerning the guardianship of unaccompanied minors, and the focus that the literature has therefore taken. A comprehensive search of identified databases was conducted. Ultimately, 38 publications were selected for analysis. The review was qualitative and inductive. The results of the review suggest that research has identified and focused on challenges in the form of diverging policy such as gaps and inconsistencies in guardianship institutions, as well as challenges in balancing different objectives concerning the guardianship role, such as conflicting interest in the guardianship assignment or between different actors involved in protecting the child’s interest.The conclusion is that different configurations of guardianship institutions, as well as the identified challenges for practice, appear to be related to the welfare state model. Therefore, future research concerning guardianship for unaccompanied minors needs to move beyond legal sources and policy documents by focusing on empirically informed research on the relationship between child care/protection, principles of assessing the best interest of the child and the welfare state systems.

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  • Conditions of grassroot and street level engagement following the 2015 ”refugee situation”

    2018. Lisa Salmonsson, Daniel Hedlund.

    Conference

    In this paper, we draw on discussions from a panel talk of migration experts about the new restrictive turn in Swedish migration policy following the ”refugee situation” in 2015, and a forthcoming review of the international literature about guardianship for unaccompanied minors.

    The results from the panel provided insights about how discourses of securitzation translate into practice and the potential to move beyond this pattern. There seem to be several different strategies assumed by grassroot activists to counter this tendency, but this issue also seem to concern professionals and other staff engaged with asylum seekers and refugees. It appears that the latter group can retain a (legal) space to resist repressive activities that challenge their professional ethics and personal integrity, and still working ”within” the welfare system.

    Linking this the issue of grassroot activism and street-level work to the guardianship for unaccompanied children seeking asylum, which in the Swedish case involves layman guardians appointed locally, we explore the increased temporality influencing the conditions for individuals representing children with an ”unclear” legal status in relation to the the dual (care and restrictive) ”nature” of welfare state actors (e.g. Social Services, Chief Guardian Board, Migration Agency).

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  • Where do we go from here? Challenges and strategies following additional asylum policy restrictions in Sweden

    2018. Lisa Salmonsson, Daniel Hedlund. Journal of Human Rights Practice 10 (3), 524-535

    Article

    This policy note highlights issues concerning the right to seek asylum raised by a panel of migration experts in Sweden during the annual Swedish Forum for Human Rights in 2016. The discussion took place following Swedish asylum and immigration policy taking an increasingly restrictive turn. Two main themes are identified. The first theme encompasses views on the relationship between the legal framework’s increased restrictiveness and discourses of securitization and explores the possibilities of moving beyond this pattern. The second theme highlights that different professionals and other staff engaged with asylum seekers and refugees can retain a (legal) space to resist repressive activities that challenge their professional code of conduct and personal integrity.

    Read more about Where do we go from here? Challenges and strategies following additional asylum policy restrictions in Sweden

  • Constructions of credibility in decisions concerning unaccompanied minors

    2017. Daniel Hedlund. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care 13 (2), 157-172

    Article

    Purpose

    The purpose of this paper is to explore the key credibility principles used by Migration Agency case-officers in Sweden. More specifically it analyses how they construct arguments about asylum-seeking unaccompanied minors’ credibility in first-decisions.

    Design/methodology/approach

    The study is inspired by a social constructionist approach to discourse and explore how case-officers construct legally legitimate arguments about credibility. The qualitative text analysis is focused on discursive practice. The data selected for analysis consists of 827 excerpts containing case-officers’ credibility reasoning deducted from a sample of 916 decisions.

    Findings

    The main finding is that case-officers question unaccompanied minors by using argumentative techniques in which children appear to be expected to deliver detailed and coherent accounts. In addition, unaccompanied minors’ knowledge-claims can be questioned regardless of decision outcome (rejection or approval). As unaccompanied minors’ claims for asylum appear to be questioned in such an extensive manner, their humanitarian claims also seem to be reduced. The findings of this study suggest that there is a risk that the possibility to be understood as a legitimate asylum seeker, worthy of residency, can be restricted for unaccompanied minors.

    Practical implications

    The findings indicate that when case-officers base their understanding of credibility on unaccompanied children’s individual life experiences they make use of a limited repertoire of arguments.

    Originality/value

    This study contributes to insights about how case-officers fulfil legal expectations when assessing unaccompanied minors’ credibility. The findings can be of interest to both legal and social science as well policy planners and immigration practitioners.

    Read more about Constructions of credibility in decisions concerning unaccompanied minors

  • Samlevnad som ideologi i migrationslagstiftningen

    2017. Thomas Wimark, Daniel Hedlund. Sociologisk forskning 54 (1-2), 69-90

    Article

    In this study we study how homosexuality has legally gone from exclusion to inclusion in migration law and what ideological understandings that underpin this inclusion. The data corpus of the study consisted of the preparatory work concerning same-sex sexuality, cohabitation and migration. Data was coded for patterns concerning the public administrative understandings of same-sex sexuality as described in the preparatory works. The coding was theoretically driven by critical and Marxist approaches to ideology. Conducting a thematic analysis, four themes were identified in the data. The overall finding is that the preparatory works give precedence to sexuality in terms of disposition (läggning) when it is linked to identity and intensions to engage in a long-term relationship. This means that alternative sexual identities and practices not compatible with the ”heterosexual matrix” have been excluded from the ideological lens. The ideological focus in the preparatory works could be seen as a reflection of the capitalist system, where some social categories are viewed as desirable to include in a capitalist society.

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  • Drawing the limits

    2016. Daniel Hedlund.

    Thesis (Doc)

    The overall aim of the thesis is to explore legislators’ perceptions of unaccompanied children in the development of migration law, and how case-officers transform the policy in arguments for and against residency in asylum-cases.

    More specifically, this thesis explores how Swedish legislators experienced parliamentary work when putting in place the 2005 Aliens Act and the new system for appeals and procedures. In addition, it explores legislators understanding of the concept of unaccompanied minors, and how the Swedish Migration Agency (SMA) case-officers understand unaccompanied minors’ credibility. It draws on interview data with 15 legislators of the Swedish parliament and an analysis of 916 decisions in asylum cases concerning unaccompanied minors. The thesis is theoretically informed by interpretative phenomenology and social constructionism. The method used builds on detailed coding procedures in qualitative social research as they are applied in interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), thematic analysis and text analysis.

    Study 1 examines the experiences of 15 legislators when negotiating migration reform in parliament. The findings indicate that the preceding political negotiations can be one of the reasons for unclear aims when politicians’ propose new legislation. In addition, it seems that other policy areas, such as fiscal considerations and state-municipality relations, took precedence in the negotiations when the legislators were attempting to make sense of their experiences in discussing asylum policy.

    Study 2 explores legislators’ perceptions of unaccompanied minors arriving in Sweden. The findings show that chronological age is a key reference point concerning how legislators understand unaccompanied minors’ claims for asylum and other needs. In addition, the findings suggest that legislators perceive unaccompanied minors as an ambivalent category and that this understanding is influenced by deep-rooted welfare ideology. Furthermore, the findings indicate that legislators develop policy concerning unaccompanied children without considering that they need to be recognised as individuals with different backgrounds, agendas and needs.

    Study 3 scrutinises how SMA case-officers construct unaccompanied minors credibility in asylum decisions. It shows that case-officers use similar techniques both when approving and rejecting decisions. These techniques consistently question the competence and political agency of the chid in such a way that the element of individual assessment in asylum procedure can become severely restricted.

    In brief, this thesis identifies that the connection between migration and child policy is complex as legislators appear to struggle with “drawing the limits” of who to include or exclude in policy aims. Hence, the juridical field was seen as the answer to improve legitimation. This also means that the concept of asylum has become de-politicised. In addition, case-officers also seem to use a limited repertoire of arguments when drawing the limits for unaccompanied minors’ credibility in asylum decisions. This thesis points to possible dilemmas in asylum policy and procedure concerning unaccompanied minors.

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  • The art of the (im)possible

    2016. Daniel Hedlund, Ann-Christin Cederborg, Mauro Zamboni. The Theory and Practice of Legislation 4 (1), 45-63

    Article

    We do not know enough about how legislators from different political parties make sense of their ambitions and experiences in relation to the development of asylum policy. In this study we wanted to find out how political discussions can create conditions for legislative change. The present study therefore explored how the Swedish 2005 Aliens Act and the new system for appeals and procedures (NSAP) were negotiated and perceived by 15 legislators of the parliamentary Committee on Social Insurance (COSI) that considered this new legal framework that is effective since 2006. The participants were openly interviewed about their experiences of negotiating migration policy via their committee work. The study is inspired by interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) as it can reach an understanding of how research participants’ attempt to make sense of their lived experience. First, the interview transcripts were transcribed verbatim and then independently coded by the first two authors. Thereafter they collaboratively refined the themes and sub-themes and discussed them with the third author. The overall finding is that the preceding political negotiations can be one of the reasons for unclear aims when politicians’ propose new legislation. This is because directives can consist of many divergent perspectives and considerations. The specific findings are that the period under consideration was described as dramatic and stressful with the presence of uncommon political collaboration between political parties as well as the pushing of legislation via budget negotiations. In addition, they said that the suggested changes in asylum policy and implementation were mainly based on other policy aspects, such as fiscal considerations and state-municipality relations. Participants also viewed that identified problems with asylum decision-making have not been sufficiently resolved by the new framework. Even though this study was conducted in Sweden, its findings can be relevant to other political systems in more developed countries as these states also can struggle with contradictory aims with asylum policy.

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  • "Beard boys"

    2015. Daniel Hedlund. Invisible Boy, 83-94

    Chapter

    In this chapter the thought-construct of skäggbarn [”beard children”] or, sometimes also skäggpojkar [”beard boys”], is explored. It constitutes a distinct form of hate speech, targeted against unaccompanied refugee minors in Sweden, and finds its outlet particularly on far-right internet sites (Hirvonen, 2013). By taking a cue from psychoanalysis and its two-way perspective on both inner world and society (Clarke, 2003), the meaning of facial hair in relation to the “racial” Other is interrogated as an example of how racist fantasies and caricatures can emerge. The analysis herein presented describes in what ways the Others, the “beard boys/children”, are degraded, as they come to represent an obstruction that frustrates one’s possible self belonging to a unified society. 

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  • Legislators’ perceptions of unaccompanied children seeking asylum

    2015. Daniel Hedlund, Ann-Christin Cederborg. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care 11 (4), 239-252

    Article

    Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore how individual legislators perceive unaccompanied minors seeking asylum, their life situation, needs and best interests.

    Design/methodology/approach– The total number of participants were 15. Thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) was used in order to identify and analyze patterns in the interview data. The authors focused on their responses to the questions about the best interest of the child in migration policy and practice, and how this principle was related to unaccompanied children seeking asylum.

    Findings– The main finding is that chronological age becomes a key sign for how legislators understand the life situation, needs and best interests of unaccompanied children. Also, the findings from this study suggest that the moralizing welfare ideology of the past is still present in political discourse and social planning, construing unaccompanied minors as an ambivalent category between civilization and savagery. The findings from this study indicate that legislators enact reforms of importance for unaccompanied children without considering them as agents of their own future, with their own motives and reasons to seek asylum.

    Practical implications– The findings from this study indicate a need to adapt the understanding of the existing Aliens Act (SFS 2005:716) to the knowledge that unaccompanied minors need to be assessed on their own terms.

    Originality/value– This study contributes to increasing the understanding about how the subjective values of legislators may have influenced migration reform in Sweden that can be valuable to both legal and social research, as well as policy planners.

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  • Exploring the ‘Integrative Turn’ in Child Politics and Law

    2022. Daniel Hedlund.

    Conference

    Historically, the concept of integration has primarily been connected to labor market participation. However, in later decades, there has been a shift in political discourse, where persons with migration experience are expected – or demanded – to ’integrate’ socially and culturally in ways that rather reminds of assimilation, i.e. the eradication of difference. Children and youth are in the focus of many of these policies. This has meant a sharp increase in the number of regulations in several policy areas, such as education, child welfare and criminal law.

    Sweden has been described in the sociological literature as part of a ‘Nordic Model’ striving for social equity, and to some extent, the inclusion of new arrivals and persons with migration experience. However, the Swedish welfare state has been structurally transformed during the last 30 years, combined with a steady growth of regulations aiming to integrate children and youth.

    The aim of this paper is to present preliminary findings about the trajectory of this ‘integrative turn’ in child politics and law, a turn that can be traced back to 1990s, a decade during which two parallel and sometimes-contradictory policy tracks were established. One was grounded in debates about gender equality and honour-related violence, while the other originated in expressed political strives to acknowledge Sweden as a multi-cultural society. The analysis draws on traditional legal sources such as legal text, court verdicts, preparatory work and legal scholarship to establish a timeline for the ‘integrative turn’ while simultaneously using text analysis to examine shifts in law and policy. Theoretically, the analysis highlights questions about the relationship between law and emotion, applying concepts such as abject (disgust), love (care/protection) and rage (as resistance to assimilation and an engine of progressive politics). Thereby, this paper goes into dialogue with the field of law and emotion.

     

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  • Border Bureaucracies: A Literature Review of Discretion in Migration Control

    2023. Lisa Maria Borrelli (et al.).

    Report

    This literature review summarizes findings from 63 articles published between 2001 and 2020 that study discretion of frontline workers at migration control. The results demonstrate that discretionary practices in various migration control situations (e.g., border zones, migration agencies, courts, public welfare services, and detention centers) are widespread but share common patterns. Frontline workers’ racialized prejudices and perceptions of migrant deservingness were the most dominant patterns found in the data, although there were some disagreements about which were most influential. Discretion of frontline workers was described as foremost detrimental to migrants, as itamplified the migrants’ vulnerable situations, even if it occasionally could increase individual migrants’ room for agency and strategic maneuvering. Contrary to the assumption underpinning the control gap-thesis in immigration policy literature that governments’ capacity to control migration is hampered by the significant discretion at the frontlines, many studies in our sample describe how governments shape the discretionary practices of frontline workers through informal, subtle, and opaque governing strategies. These informal governing strategies enable central governments to deflect responsibility for discriminatory and inhumane policy outcomes. 

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  • Editorial Introduction: The Role of Language and Communication in Asylum Procedures

    2023. Daniel Hedlund, Livia Johannesson. Journal of International Migration and Integration

    Article
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