The present paper delves into how symbolic boundaries in a school that is undergoing a desegregation process come to shape social boundaries of ‘we-ness’ and ‘otherness’. The theoretical framework of the study starts from an interest in analysing whether symbolic and social boundaries emerge in new encounters during a desegregation process and whether this may produce different modes of incorporation. Peer interactions and schoolwork were observed and interviews with school staff were conducted to investigate school desegregation implementation in a large Swedish town. The town we investigated has formulated a desegregation policy that, over time, has not resulted in desegregation in practice. The results highlight that schools without a coherent pedagogy, idea, or practice for social inclusion face challenges. These challenges, in turn, promote internal micro-segregation and non-incorporation of minority students, despite intentions to promote inclusion.

Professional agency has been comprehensively investigated in educational contexts, but there have been few quantitative or comparative studies. This quantitative study explored school staff members’ professional agency in Finland, Scotland, and Sweden, addressing three dimensions of agency: influencing at work, participation at work, and negotiating professional identity. The questionnaire data indicated fairly strong agency among lower secondary school staff members across the dimensions and countries. Professional agency was perceived to be stronger in Sweden than in Finland or Scotland. There were some differences between the countries in terms of the background variables (e.g. working experience) affecting professional agency in schools.

Currently, Sweden is a society marked by growing anti-immigrant sentiments and residential stigmatization. As a result, the symbolic and social gaps between in-groups and out-groups are widening. Consequently, interactions that could foster empathy and solidarity across differences have become increasingly fragile. However, artistic initiatives that counter anti-civil forces are emerging. This article focuses on theater and social inclusion by examining three interconnected elements: meaning, communication, and social change—and how they can serve as a form of civil resilience through critical reflection and recognition processes. Thus, we illuminate how theater can become a venue for social inclusion for a young, ethnically diverse audience by activating symbolic structures of meaning and emotions that recognize the inequalities present within marginalized groups and their experiences. This is achieved by investigating the professional and dramaturgical strategies employed by an artistic team establishing a new theater in a stigmatized neighborhood north of Stockholm and their efforts toward social cohesion. The analysis identifies dramaturgical strategies involving emotions, authenticity, and bodies, along with other professional strategies that work transformatively within the theater and the community, resulting in theatrical communication that allows for psycho-social identification for the audience and critical self-analysis for theater professionals, thereby holding potential for civil resilience.